ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES BUREAU ANNUAL REPORT 2000 During 2000, the Environmental Crimes Bureau (ECB) prosecuted violations of the State s water pollution, hazardous waste, and air pollution laws as well as the criminal conduct relating to the environment. In 2000, the Environmental Crimes Bureau obtained twelve (12) indictments and accusations, and one (1) criminal complaint against twenty-seven (27) defendants. It also secured jail sentences totaling twelve (12) years, $1,030,340 in restitution and fines of $32,210. In addition to the ECB s enforcement activities, County Prosecutor Offices investigated and prosecuted a significant number of cases in 2000. I. ECB ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES 1. In State v. Meadowlands Plating and Finishing, Inc., et al, (Indictment No. 00-10- 00140S), the Environmental Crimes Bureau obtained a 17 count indictment against defendant Meadowlands, a successor company, MPF Plating and Finishing, Inc., and four principals of the companies charging them with unlawfully storing and abandoning plating vats of electroplating waste and drums, tanks and containers of hazardous waste, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:17-2a(2) and N.J.S.A. 13:1E-9g(3). The indictment also charges defendants with unlawfully discharging toxic pollutants into the sewer system in violation of the facility s industrial pretreatment permit, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:17-2a(2) and N.J.S.A. 58:10a-10f. At one time, Meadowlands was one of the largest electroplating facilities in the State. 2. In State v. Meadowlands Plating, James O Brien, John Canavari and Andrew Marchese (Indictment No. 00-10-00141-S), the Environmental Crimes Bureau
obtained a six count indictment against the defendants charging them with theft contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:20-9, for misappropriating a loan guaranteed by the Small Business Administration. The loan proceeds should have been used to purchase pollution control equipment and operation equipment at Meadowlands. The indictment also charges defendants with uttering forged instruments, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:21-1 and corporate misconduct, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:21-9. 3. In State v. Gary Fagan and State v. Mohawk Fisheries, Inc., (Accusation No. 00-01-0034A) the ECB filed accusations against defendants for discharging sewage from a vessel, the Big Mohawk III, into the Shark River, a designated no discharge area under N.J.S.A. 58:10A-56 and N.J.S.A. 58:10A-59. Fagan, the captain and owner of the Big Mohawk, and his company Mohawk Fisheries, Inc., plead guilty to unlawfully discharging sewage from the Big Mohawk commercial fishing boat into the Shark River, a designated no discharge zone. (N.J.S.A. 58:10A-10f; N.J.S.A. 58:10A-56 and N.J.S.A. 58:10A-59.) The Court sentenced Fagan to two years probation, a $5,000 fine payable to the Clean Water Enforcement Fund and a $5,000 fine payable to the American Littoral Society at Sandy Hook. The Court sentenced the corporate defendant to pay a $5,000 fine to the Clean Water Enforcement Fund. This was the State s first prosecution under this statute. 4. In State v. Moore s Cruise Line Inc. and Richard Moore, (Accusation No. s 00-12-2060 and 00-12-2061), Moore s Cruise Line, Inc. and company president Richard Moore pled guilty to separate one count accusations filed by the ECB. ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES BUREAU ANNUAL REPORT 2000 Page -2-
Both accusations charged defendants with unlawfully discharging raw sewage from the charter vessel Royal Teal into Sandy Hook Bay and the lower bay over a two year period. The prosecution resulted from an undercover initiative commenced by the ECB during the summer of 2000. The State is recommending that each defendant pay a fine of $5,000 to the Clean Water Enforcement Fund and that defendants pay a total of $7,500 restitution to the NY/NJ Baykeeper for its NY/NJ harbor oyster replenishment program and for the Raritan Riverkeeper. 5. In State v. Anthony Bonaccurso and Salem Packing Company, (Indictment No. SGJ431-00-2), the State Grand Jury returned a one count indictment against Bonaccurso and Salem Packing charging them with third degree unlawful discharge of water pollutants, contrary to N.J.S.A. 58:10A-6 and N.J.S.A. 58:10A-10f. The indictment charges both defendants with discharging blood and animal waste from Salem Packing s slaughterhouse operations into two nearby streams. 6. In State v. Anthony Bonaccurso and Salem Packing Company, (Indictment No. SGJ431-00-2) State Grand Jury returned a superseding two count indictment against Bonaccurso and Salem Packing charging them with two counts of third degree unlawful discharge of water pollutants, contrary to N.J.S.A. 58:10A-6 and N.J.S.A. 58:10A-10f. The new count of the indictment relates to evidence of additional discharges found by a DEP inspector at the time of the initial indictment one month earlier. The indictment charges both defendants with discharging blood and animal waste from Salem Packing s slaughterhouse ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES BUREAU ANNUAL REPORT 2000 Page -3-
operations into two nearby streams. The ECB also filed a complaint against defendants for obstruction of justice relating to defendant s dealings with a DEP inspector. 7. In State v. David Solow, (Indictment No. 00-12-00166-S), the ECB obtained a State Grand Jury indictment against defendant charging him with second degree unlawful abandonment of hazardous waste, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:17-2a. Defendant is charged with abandoning drums and containers of hazardous waste at a public storage facility in Little Ferry, Bergen County. 8. In State v. AAA Circuits, Inc. and Flavio LaManna, (Indictment No. SGJ425-00- 14), the State Grand Jury returned an indictment against defendants charging them with illegal storage of hazardous waste, fourth degree, contrary to N.J.S.A. 13:1E- 9h(3) and recklessly abandoning hazardous waste and toxic pollutants, third degree contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:17-2(a)(2). LaManna, the environmental consultant of AAA, and the company are charged with illegally storing and ultimately abandoning over 20 fifty-five gallon drums containing highly reactive lithium at the AAA facility in Wayne. 9. In State v. Michael DiMarco, Pequannock Disposal Co., Inc., Denville Disposal Co., Inc., Frank s Sanitation Service and American Resource Recovery, Inc., (Indictment No. SGJ421-99-3), the State Grand Jury charged defendants with theft, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:20-4; uttering a forged instrument, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:21-1a(3); falsifying records, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:21-4 and corporate misconduct, contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:21-9. This sixteen count ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES BUREAU ANNUAL REPORT 2000 Page -4-
indictment charges defendants with overbilling numerous solid waste customers by padding bills for solid waste roll off container services. 10. In State v. Grungo, et al, (Indictment No. 95-03-0018), the Court sentenced defendant Christopher Grungo to five years State prison and imposed almost $1 million restitution payable to State and Federal taxation authorities. Grungo had previously entered a guilty plea to second degree racketeering for a scheme involving the improper handling of waste oil and the evasion of state and federal fuel oil taxes. Co-defendant Brenda Grungo received a five year probationary sentence and $50,000 restitution for third degree theft. 11. State v. Louis Tucci, Charles Cotterell and U.S. Remedial Services, (Indictment No. 98-12-00085), defendant Tucci entered a guilty plea to second degree racketeering for his involvement in a scheme to fraudulently obtain subcontractor payment and performance bonds for three different environmental remediation projects: Veterans Psychiatric Hospital in Lyons; New Jersey Transit Bus Maintenance Facility in Wayne and the North Jersey District Water Supply Residual Treatment Facility in Wanaque. The approximate total value of the bonds for the three projects was over eight million dollars. The State has recommended that defendant Tucci receive a seven year state prison sentence. 12. In State v. U.S. Remedial Services and Charles Cotterell, (Indictment No. 98-12- 00085) the court sentenced defendant Cotterell to six years State Prison for second degree corporate misconduct (N.J.S.A. 2C:21-9) for using U.S. Remedial ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES BUREAU ANNUAL REPORT 2000 Page -5-
Services, an environmental consulting firm, to fraudulently obtain performance/payment bonds worth approximately $8 million for three environmental clean-up projects in Northern New Jersey. US Remedial Services pled guilty to second degree theft and was also sentenced by the court. 13. In State v. Louis Tucci and Leeward Environmental, (Indictment No. 98-07-0044) defendant Tucci plead guilty to second degree racketeering for engaging in a scheme in which he falsely represented to customers that he was properly disposing of contaminated soil from clean up sites when that was not in fact the case. The soil was unlawfully disposed of in New York. The State has recommended that defendant Tucci receive a seven year custodial term to run concurrently with the sentence he receives in the U.S. Remedial case. 14. In State v. Heterene Chemical Corp., Inc., et al, (Indictment No. 99-06-0124-S) defendant Heterene entered a guilty plea to count two of the indictment charging the company with fourth degree recklessly creating the risk of widespread injury or damage, (N.J.S.A. 2C:17-2a) by releasing a toxic plume from its Paterson facility into the environment. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Heterene will pay $75,000 restitution to be used for health care for Paterson residents and has agreed to eliminate several dangerous chemical processes from the facility. In addition, Heterene also entered a guilty plea to an accusation charging the company with fourth degree unlawfully storing hazardous waste, contrary to N.J.S.A. 13:1E-9 by storing waste chemicals without a DEP permit. ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES BUREAU ANNUAL REPORT 2000 Page -6-
15. In State v. Michael Ambrosio and Michael Ambrosio and Sons, Inc., (Indictment No. 99-11-00197-S) the trial court sentenced defendant Michael Ambrosio to three years probation and $12,000 restitution for the crime of criminal mischief. Ambrosio was charged with causing the unlawful dumping of large quantities of solid waste and debris on a low income housing development site in Jersey City. 16. In State v. Lutz Environmental Company, Inc. (Accusation Nos. 900-99 and 901-99), the ECB filed two accusations and obtained two guilty pleas against Lutz Environmental, an environmental consulting firm. One accusation to which Lutz plead guilty charges it with submitting a falsified Underground Storage Tank System Closure plan to Raritan Township officials (tampering with public records, N.J.S.A. 2C:28-7). The other accusation to which Lutz plead guilty charges it with submitting a falsified Underground Storage Tank System Permit to Secaucus officials. The Court imposed a $15,000 fine, two years probation and a two year DEP license suspension on Lutz. 17. In United States v. Donald Lamb (Indictment No. 99-410(KSH)), a case jointly investigated and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney, Division of Criminal Justice Environmental Crimes Bureau and Staten Island District Attorney, an indictment against the defendant was unsealed when he was arrested in San Francisco. The indictment charges defendant, a tanker man on the Reinauer Barge 320, with negligently causing the discharge of oil from the barge on May 15, 1997 (33 U.S.C.A. 1311(a) and 1319(c)(1)(A), for leaving the deck and falling asleep while the vessel was receiving a load of oil at the GATX Terminal in Carteret. ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES BUREAU ANNUAL REPORT 2000 Page -7-
While defendant slept, approximately 49,000 gallons of oil overflowed from the barge. Defendant is also charged with misusing a federal document (18 U.S.C.A. 2197 1 & 2) for obtaining a Merchant Mariner s document by supplying false information to the Coast Guard and then using said document to obtain employment. Defendant plead guilty to the charges and received a one year Federal prison sentence and $2000 fine. II. COUNTY ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES In 2000, the County Prosecutors in New Jersey obtained 10 indictments and accusations against 15 defendants for environmental criminal violations. In the area of water enforcement, the County Prosecutors filed 5 criminal actions for violations of the Clean Water Enforcement Act. For hazardous waste violations, County Prosecutors filed 3 criminal actions. For solid waste violations, County Prosecutors filed 2 criminal actions. ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES BUREAU ANNUAL REPORT 2000 Page -8-