PV Fire Department Still Evading Questions on Dumping Incident
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The Examiner did a great service to Putnam Valley residents by publishing their recent articles regarding the Putnam Valley Fire Department and the illegal dumping of contaminated fill on their property. The environmental violations that occurred resulted in a DEC-mandated cleanup that cost the taxpayers over $2 million.
Judging by the Feb. 15 Town Board meeting, it appears that the articles were right on target. The fire department sent a delegation and one of their head honchos to present their version of what allegedly happened with the dumping fiasco. According to active member and vice chair of the board of directors, Bruce Johnson, who spoke on behalf of the department, there are “outrageous accusations that have been made against us…including being part of a vast conspiracy…and coverup…”
Johnson stated that until now the fire department had been reluctant to comment for fear of jeopardizing their legal case, which was recently filed (even though seven years has passed since the dumping occurred), but they were concerned that residents were upset and worried.
Johnson was unable to explain why the fire department had waited this long to file suit, and Councilman Louie Luongo, a longtime volunteer, announced early on that he would recuse himself from the matter.
Sadly, even after the truth about this environmental fiasco is finally coming out, the department is still trying to gaslight our community about what really happened. Despite Johnson’s protestations and claims of misinformation, he was unable to present even one example of anything that was published that was found to be false. Not one. Instead, we were treated to a recitation of half-truths and propaganda that will never hold up in court as sworn testimony.
Johnson’s claims are simply not supported by the voluminous records that are now in the public domain, and in fact, are contradictory to the paperwork that was filed with the agencies involved.
According to Johnson, the fire department had wanted some fill “to install a septic system for the new firehouse.” Unbeknownst to whomever had ordered the fill, it contained harmful construction debris that the “supplier” had attempted to keep secret from them. When they discovered that there was a problem, they “worked with the DEC” to avoid any environmental impact, and everyone lived happily ever after.
The facts that have been revealed in the DEC records, Planning Board filings and even court documents tell a much different story – one that has cost town taxpayers over $2 million with no end in sight. Contrary to what the fire department is now claiming, this was not just a few truckloads of dirt for a septic system. It was 17,000 cubic yards of contaminated debris that was trucked into Putnam Valley from the Bronx over a period of time.
Nobody from the department, including Johnson, has ever admitted who approved and ordered the fill and supervised the project. Keep in mind that we are talking about hundreds of truckloads of material, that at the very least, cost a fortune to transport and handle. The DEC described the site as a “solid waste management facility” in the Consent Order that outlined the environmental offenses and violations that the department admitted to. If no money was exchanged, as Johnson says, then who paid for the dumping in the first place? Did the contractor just decide on his own that it was alright to dump contaminated fill at the property without permission? Where was the building inspector? What about the other fire department members?
Although we still don’t know who was responsible for allowing the dumping and the environmental violations, we do know that it cost millions to remediate the site to the satisfaction of the DEC. How can Johnson and others explain or justify that cost when it was THEIR negligence and that of the Town Board that caused this debacle?
Despite Johnson’s protestations to the contrary, there is ample evidence that not only the fire department but many town officials knew full well what went on with the dumping as far back as 2016 when the DEC got wind of it. What we still don’t know is whether or not town taxpayers will ever be reimbursed for the money we were forced to spend to clean up the mess.
The meeting video is available at https://archive.org/details/tbmtg-2-15-23.
Patty Villanova
Putnam Valley
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