Joint Effort Cleans Up Hazardous Waste Warehouse

Attorney General Spitzer and Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner John Cahill today announced that they have forced the cleanup of a warehouse in the Hamlet of Highland that was dangerously packed with hazardous waste.

"This enforcement action rids Highland of an illegal hazardous waste storage site and makes the community a better, safer place in which to live and raise families," said Spitzer.

DEC Commissioner Cahill said: "This case is another example of the skill and dedication DEC technical staff and investigators bring to the job every day. Without their vigilance, this cache of leaking chemicals may have continued to endanger the public and our environment. Instead, the threat has been abated through the hard work of the Attorney General’s office and DEC staff, who spent countless hours cleaning up the site."

Both Lawrence Perretta Sr., a principal of Great Eastern Color Lithographic, the Poughkeepsie printing plant that produced the waste material, and Dobell Corp., a company that leased the warehouse and is affiliated with Great Eastern, were charged with violating New York State Environmental Conservation Laws.

To resolve the charges, Perretta pled guilty to a violation in the Town of Lloyd Justice Court in November and was fined $1,000 by Judge Terry Elia. On March 4, Dobell Corp. pled guilty to Illegal Possession of Hazardous Waste in the 2nd Degree, a felony, in Ulster County Court and was fined $10,000 by Judge J. Michael Bruhn.

Great Eastern also entered into a series of Consent Orders with the state DEC that require cleanup of the warehouse and remediation of other environmental problems at the Great Eastern plant in Poughkeepsie, including the installation of air scrubbers to reduce plant emissions, which have been a source of concern in the community.

In 1997, DEC investigators discovered that more than 1,100 55-gallon drums of wastes, including large amounts of hazardous wastes, were being stored in two joined buildings at the corner of Mud Tavern Road and Hoagerburgh Hill Road in Highland.

Much of the material in the drums was solvents used to clean the printing presses at Great Eastern as well as inks and powders used in the printing process. There were no permits to store the used solvents in the buildings.

"There were a lot of problems inside that warehouse," said Hugh McLean, the Assistant Attorney General who prosecuted the case. "Metal and plastic drums were stacked two and three levels high and many of the lower drums were crushed by the weight and leaking."

Pursuant to the Consent Orders with DEC, most of the wastes stored at the warehouse have been removed for recycling or proper disposal at Great Eastern’s expense.