BRIDGEPORT — A High Court judge on Monday denied three former Fairfield city employees and a local developer a special probation program indicted over a five-year plan to dump large amounts of contaminated soil on town property. did.
After a four-hour hearing, Judge Kevin Russo ruled that four suspects illegally disposing of hazardous waste and attempting to cover up charges were too serious for early rehabilitation programs. Did.
The judge’s decision also included former Fairfield Public Works Chief Scott Bartlett. Brian Carey, Interim Public Works and Town Conservation Director. Emmett Hibson, the town’s former head of human resources, and Jason Julian, co-owner of Julian Enterprises.
The judge then ordered him to be prepared for trial before Judge Ndidi Moses. No trial period is specified.
Later, on behalf of Fairfield First Select Woman Brenda Kapchik, who was unable to attend the hearing because she contracted COVID-19, District Attorney James Baldwin said she was grateful for the judge’s ruling.
“The court found that[the defendant’s]lawsuit caused substantial harm to taxpayers,” Baldwin said.
However, Russo said in the ruling that he was concerned that the costs of remediation for the defendants’ alleged conduct were estimated to be between $5 million and $25 million, although he said , said he was more concerned about the possible damage done to the health of patients. Town workers who had to clear the soil.
Reading the affidavit for the arrest warrant, the judge was told that the town’s employees did not need any protective gear and that it would only cause concern for town residents if they saw it. Carrie reportedly told an employee that the soil they were working with was as safe as any fish eaten in Long Island Sound.
“Convincing the blue-collar workers, most of whom are blue-collar workers, to expose them to petri dishes of soil contaminated with PCBs and other carcinogens is too serious a grave aggravation for the benefit of the AR program.” “It was probably the same as someone jumping without a parachute, because those people don’t yet know what their future health will be.” is.”
Under accelerated rehabilitation, a pretrial program for nonviolent offenders, defendants do not plead guilty to the charges against them but can receive up to two years of probation. If they committed no other crimes while on probation, the charges against them will be dismissed.
Senior Assistant Tambourine Chapman opposed granting AR to the five defendants. This includes Robert He Mayer, former Fairfield chief accountant and AR request continued.
“Contaminated soil was used all over town where children played,” she told the judge. “This soil was also sold to other municipalities, including Bridgeport.”
Tracy Babbage, Acting Deputy Commissioner of the State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, also objected to the defendant being placed on probation.
“This is one of the more serious cases in Connecticut’s history of solid waste disposal,” she told the judge. “The defendant endangered human health and the environment. ”
All of the defendants’ attorneys sought to mitigate their clients’ role in the alleged conspiracy.
“I did my best to do what I thought was right at the time,” said Carey, the only defendant to speak directly to the judge. rice field. “At the time, I was having family issues, so I may have overlooked things. I didn’t know it was a crime.”
The defendants are charged with multiple counts of illegal disposal of hazardous waste and conspiracy to cover up their actions. In addition, Bartlett is accused of taking a bribe from Julian to have him dump contaminated soil on town grounds. Bartlett has been charged with another theft charge for stealing more than $30,000 of her from a disabled woman.
Mayer has been charged with burglary, theft and forgery in connection with the alleged conspiracy to dump. His accelerated rehabilitation application lasted until December 20th. Robert Grabarek, owner of Clinton’s Osprey Environmental Engineering, is awaiting trial in the case.
Last week, Joseph Michelangelo, the former Director of Public Works in Fairfield, accused him of illegal dumping of PCBs, multiple counts of receiving solid waste at unauthorized facilities, dumping of asbestos without a permit, false statements and conspiracy. pleaded guilty to the crime.
He faces two years and one day in prison when he is sentenced on February 3.
In 2013, Julian Development was hired by the town to manage a pile of rubble next to a public works garage, ensuring that it would not accept contaminated materials, and eventually clearing the site. prohibited.
But over the next three years, the site went from 40,000 cubic yards to about 120,000 cubic yards, nearly 3 acres. Subsequent inspections found the pile to contain high levels of PCBs, lead and other toxic substances, according to court documents.
