Supervisor Paula Mahan said town employees might have been aware of County Waste’s fraudulent dumping activity at the Colonie Town Landfill that resulted in the trash hauler paying a settlement of close to $1 million.
We don’t believe County Waste could have done this without someone, or people, at the landfill knowing about this, Mahan said early Tuesday, Feb. 23.
She said the Town Board was scheduled to meet in executive session later Tuesday, after The Spotlight’s press deadine, to discuss `personnel issues` related to County Waste.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced Monday, Feb. 22, that the Clifton Park-based company understated the amount of waste it put in the town’s landfill, and ignored regulations that required it to have a special permit for `putrid waste` at its Clifton Park-based transfer station.
County Waste submitted vouchers that under-reported the amount of waste it brought to the town landfill, located in Cohoes.
`We are grateful for the hard work and tremendous effort spent by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and his staff investigating the improper practices taking place at the Colonie Landfill, and residents can be assured that in moving forward the Town of Colonie will not tolerate such practices in the future,` said Mahan in a statement released Monday, Feb. 22.
The waste hauler is under contract through 2010, and they will likely continue to provide services through the remainder of their contract, Mahan said.
County Waste will pay $986,186 to the town, the state and a whistleblower who helped with the investigation. It is the first settlement of a `non-Medicaid-related False Claims Act case,` according to Cuomo’s office.
Of that, $736,186 is in response to the incorrect weight slips, $250,000 to New York state in fines and penalties and $163,651 to the whistleblower.
Mahan said the settlement is reasonable for the time period in question, 2002-2006, and that obviously the settlement only pertains to what was able to be proven. Claims made by the whistleblower that there was more than $15 million in wrongdoing did not seem `practical,` she said
`This is reasonable for that time period,` she said.
County Waste and its president, Scott Earl, will be responsible to make the payments, according to Cuomo’s office.
`County Waste undercut its financial obligations to the Town of Colonie and ignored its environmental protection obligations to the state and its residents,` said Cuomo in a statement. `Scams like this not only potentially impact the environment, but also taxpayers who have to bear the brunt of lost revenue. My office worked with the DEC and the town to ensure that Colonie was paid its due, and that the company was held accountable for its acceptance of non-permitted waste.`
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Law Enforcement and Bureau of Environmental Crimes began investigating in 2007. In 2008, Cuomo’s office joined the investigation and 2008 search warrant permitted officials to search the Clifton Park facility, according to Cuomo’s office.
Mahan said the town has an outside firm audited the landfill in 2007 and the town has been looking to make its operation more efficient since then.
`DEC is committed to preserving the state’s valuable natural resources and believes in holding environmental violators accountable for their actions. These permits are put into place to ensure the protection of our environment and of public health and New York businesses and municipalities are expected to follow permit requirements,` said DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis said. `The department will continue to work with the attorney general’s office to pursue enforcement actions against those who violate environmental conservation laws.`
County Waste officials offered a statement on Feb. 22.
`In July of 2008, the Attorney General began investigating a $15 million claim made against County Waste and Recycling by a former employee. We cooperated fully with the Attorney General as he conducted his 18-month comprehensive review and provided complete assistance to his office as he worked to investigate the claim,` according to the statement. As we said from the start ` County Waste and Recycling operates fairly and legally. The settlement reached today is the best decision for County Waste and Recycling’s more than 400 employees and 180,000 residential, commercial and municipal customers who expect and appreciate the dependable, quality service we provide. We are moving forward, and redoubling our focus on our top priority ` our customers.`
“
