DEC fines Kings Park firm $200G for on-site dumping of solid waste

The state Department of Environmental Conservation has fined a Kings Park sand mining company $200,000 for dumping illegal solid waste on the site - the highest negotiated fine leveled by the agency for such an activity.

The company, Santilli Commercial Developers, owned by Anthony Santilli, 72, of Baldwin, has agreed to pay the fine, according to the DEC.

The DEC said the company will remove the debris that was dumped in their pits to fill in what was dug out during its sand mining operations. Most of the material was construction debris such as metals and asphalt.

The company also agreed to video monitoring of its operations.

"That will be our eyes on the site at all times," said Vincent Palmer, chairman of the DEC's Solid Waste Task Force. "This is the first time we are employing this type of technology. The entire site will be under surveillance."

The video monitoring will supplement visits by inspectors, Palmer said.

The investigation, started in November as part of a crackdown on illegal dumping and concluded with the drilling of 220 test pits to test the soil at the Old Northport Road facility. Test showed the material dumped on site included paint chips, metals, asphalt, insulation and other nonauthorized materials, according to the DEC.

On March 4, Santilli was arrested by DEC officers and charged with operating a landfill inside a deep flow recharge area, operating a landfill without a permit and unlawful disposal of solid waste, all misdemeanors, according to the news release. Those charges are pending.

This is not the first time Santilli's sand mining operation has run into trouble with the DEC. A violation was issued to the company on May 20, 2008, for excavating the sand pits 25 feet below permissible levels. The company agreed then to also pay another large fine - $275,000 - for unlawful mining. That fine was paid, the DEC said.

Calls to Santilli were not immediately returned.

In July 2008, Santilli attended a meeting with residents arranged by the Kings Park Civic Association where he said he was done sandmining and was filling in the pits with permissible fill so the land can be level.

At that meeting, Steve Weber, a civic activist, showed pictures of fill already trucked to the site that contained broken tile and bricks.

Santilli said the material brought in to replace the slope is "clean fill" - only natural materials - and that the occasional tile or brick is an aberration.