Truck stopped in Woodbury spurs ‘unlawful fill’ investigation
Woodbury. The truck was transporting fill from Brooklyn to an Orange County facility whose owner was previously cited for unlawful disposal.
Woodbury /
| 13 Feb 2025 | 01:04
On Jan. 29, Environmental Conservation Officer Obadiah Steffen and Lieutenant Michael Bello initiated a traffic stop on a tractor-trailer in the town of Woodbury. The officers were allegedly given incomplete tracking documents from the driver that didn’t list the type of load being transported. Officer Steffen then climbed the trailer to inspect the contents, which were generated in Brooklyn, and found what the officers described as “restricted-use fill containing unrecognizable concrete, plastics, and coal.”
During the investigation, Lieutenant Bello noted that the person listed on the documents as a main contact was the owner of several companies charged during the Southern District’s Solid Waste Task Force Operations of 2017 to 2018, and again in 2022. The owner previously pled guilty in 2022 to the unlawful disposal of more than 70 cubic yards of solid waste, a class A misdemeanor.
The next day, on Jan. 30, DEC’s Divisions of Law Enforcement and Materials Management visited the facility in Orange County where the waste was initially headed and allegedly discovered “additional unauthorized fill piles.” In its report, the DEC said the facility, owned by the same individual, is not permitted to take soil from New York City. The ECOs issued notices of violation to the truck driver and the trucking company for transporting regulated waste without a permit and for a failure to carry waste tracking documents.
DEC’s investigation into the facility is ongoing. The site location was not made public.