Dive Brief:
- New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced that a settlement was reached in a case involving a man who had an illegal landfill on his Putnam County, NY property.
- Gary Prato agreed to pay $245,000 in penalties after he allegedly broke environmental laws when hazardous materials that were discharged from the site into the Croton Falls Reservoir.
- Prato will also be responsible for clean-up of the site, which contains construction debris, including coal ash and slag.
Dive Insight:
Authorities allege that materials eroded and were swept into the reservoir. In July, a ruling was handed down that Prato operated a solid waste management facility without securing the proper permits from the Department of Environmental Conservation. In addition, officials alleged that he committed city watershed violations.
