DEC warns LIers to beware 'clean fill' offers

Long Island homeowners undergoing construction or landscaping upgrades could be getting fill dirt tainted with building materials or other illegal solid waste, the regional director of the state Department of Environmental Conservation said Monday in a news release.

Peter Scully, the department's Region 1 director, said that residents should protect themselves from costly removal fees by exercising caution and "asking tough questions when contractors offer to provide free fill materials for use in leveling or grading of their residential properties."

His warning comes after a case investigated by the Solid Waste Task Force, formed earlier this year to increase enforcement efforts against illegal dumping on Long Island, the release said.

Scully said the state has investigated about a half-dozen recent cases, including those in Melville, Dix Hills, Ronkonkoma and Middle Island, in which homeowners have gotten soil contaminated with construction and demolition debris and volatile organic compounds.

"Based on several recent enforcement cases DEC has investigated, homeowners should be extremely skeptical and ask tough questions when a contractor offers to provide fill material at no charge," Scully said in the release. "Recent cases under investigation show that the 'clean fill' often ends up being solid waste and homeowners find their properties burdened with contaminated material."

The Long Island Solid Waste Task Force was formed to improve "coordination of solid waste investigation and enforcement activities across the region," the release said. Members of the task force include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Nassau and Suffolk district attorneys, DEC's Bureau of Environmental Crimes Investigation and the towns of Brookhaven, Huntington, Riverhead and Smithtown.

In July, a task force investigation resulted in a $200,000 penalty and removal of illegally dumped solid waste from a site in Kings Park, the DEC release said.

Scully said homeowners should make sure they are not victimized in the first place by taking some precautionary measures. The first is contacting the Regional Materials Management Division prior to accepting any materials.

The release said additional steps are:

Notifying the DEC Regional Office and the local town clerk in writing, in accordance with the regulation 6NYCRR Part 360-8.6(b), at least 30 days before undertaking any grade-adjustment project.

Identifying the origin of the fill material.

Ensuring that the contractor is licensed by a government authority.

Ensuring that the materials are free of any regulated wastes such as asbestos, drywall, plaster, roofing materials, wood, metal, tiles, paint chips, ash, slag, coal, pieces of particle boards, carpet, petroleum contaminated soil, etc.

Since early 2008, DEC's Division of Law Enforcement has made 11 separate arrests for illegal solid waste activities, and additional investigations are pending, the release said. Properties involved include residential homes and commercial properties. Most of the cases involve illegal disposal of construction and demolition debris, often mixed with soil or fill.

In some cases, soil has been contaminated with petroleum products, semi-volatile organic compounds, or poly-aromatic hydrocarbons.

For information, residents can call the DEC's Office of Materials Management, (631) 444-0375.