New York State should get tougher on illegal dumping

Long Island has a well-known problem with illegal dumping. But its contours keep changing. Mostly, they get bigger.

That was made clear this week when new charges were filed in Suffolk County in a vast scheme that introduced the region to the term “dirt broker.” That would be Anthony “Rock” Grazio, a Smithtown man who advertised via Craigslist and door-to-door canvassing that he had free clean fill for construction projects. But when contacted by homeowners and businesses, he instead allegedly conspired with other individuals and companies to dump at the sites thousands of cubic yards of construction and demolition debris, much of it tainted.

Combined with actions taken by Suffolk District Attorney Timothy Sini in July, 38 individuals and 13 companies have been charged with illegal dumping at 29 sites on Long Island, all but three in Suffolk. Sini says it’s the largest environmental crime case in state history. It’s certainly among the more despicable.

The dirty dirt was filled with rebar, glass, concrete and hazardous materials like pesticides, volatile organic compounds, arsenic, mercury and lead — substances dangerous to families and to our aquifer. Conspirators were caught on wiretaps talking about dumping “cancer” on people’s lawns. It was done to avoid the cost of transporting and disposing the material at state-certified dump sites. Particularly offensive: Many victims lived in low-income neighborhoods, which often are favored locales for illegal dumping.

Behavior like this requires a strong response to send a clear message of deterrence. Sini did that by charging not only businesses but also individuals and by seizing significant assets. He also empaneled a special grand jury that continues to investigate environmental crime. But the dirt debacle sheds light on other steps that must be taken.

Stiffer penalties are needed. The top charge in this case, criminal mischief in the second degree, carries a maximum sentence of 3 1/2 to 7 years. The state Department of Environmental Conservation, which partnered with Sini, needs to continue to strengthen its system for tracking waste by making it fully electronic with mandatory reporting. State Attorney General-elect Letitia James, who has said that stopping illegal dumping is a priority, must follow through and use the state’s superior ability to pursue civil cases to amplify the message that this behavior will not be tolerated.

It’s also important Long Island law enforcement act consistently. Sini’s actions echo those of predecessor Tom Spota in the odious illegal-dumping case at Roberto Clemente Park in Brentwood, when the ringleader and another defendant went to jail and one company paid a $600,000 fine. But in a similar case at West Hills County Park in Melville, Spota’s lame-duck administration agreed — five days after his resignation last year on unrelated federal corruption charges — to a secretive plea deal that included no jail time and only required three of the four responsible companies to clean up the mess they admitted they created, as revealed in a Newsday investigation. Sini charged the fourth company this month with two felonies and a misdemeanor.

Illegal dumping is one of Long Island’s persistent scourges. Cleaning it up requires an equally persistent response. — The editorial board