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TRENTON — New Jersey Attorney General Peter C. Harvey announced that the Attorney General’s Urban Environmental Initiative continues to investigate and prosecute urban environmental crimes, including recent criminal indictments targeting the illegal discharge of fuel oil in a Union City residential neighborhood, abandoning stolen trailers filled with construction debris in Paterson and Carlstadt, and the dumping of PCB-contaminated soil in Jersey City.

Attorney General Harvey said that since announcing the Attorney General’s Urban Environmental Initiative, the Division of Criminal Justice - Environmental Crimes Bureau has indicted, convicted, and/or jailed more than two dozen illegal dumpers and unscrupulous “businessmen” for acts ranging from the intentional discharge of hazardous and potentially toxic wastewater into public waterways, to the illegal dumping of thousands of tires in environmentally sensitive areas, to discharging contaminated wastes near residential communities, to abandoning trailers full of solid waste and construction debris in urban neighborhoods. The Environmental Crimes initiative has also resulted in the collection of more than $930,000 in fines and restitution in 2003.

“The Urban Environmental Initiative emphasizes law enforcement’s commitment to protecting urban communities from the illegal, unscrupulous and often dangerous practice of dumping debris and hazardous materials in or near residential communities and neighborhoods,” Attorney General Harvey said. “As our cities and urban areas undergo renovation and rebuilding, there will be those who try to cut corners and improperly dispose of demolition debris, solid waste and hazardous and toxic chemicals. The Attorney General’s Office is determined that New Jersey’s urban communities will not be dumping grounds and that the residents living in urban settings are not the forgotten New Jerseyans.”

As part of the Urban Environmental Initiative, Vaughn L. McKoy, Director, Division of Criminal Justice, said the Environmental Crimes Bureau recently obtained three separate State Grand Jury indictments which charge an unlicenced contractor with dumping home heating fuel oil onto the ground which then entered the Union City municipal sewer system; an independent trucker with stealing trailers and illegally disposing of construction debris at two separate sites in Paterson and Carlstadt; and two Jersey City businessmen with illegally dumping PCB-contaminated soil at two locations in Jersey City.

The first indictment charges Eduardo Mariscal, 54, 47th Street, Weehawkin, Hudson County, with violating New Jersey’s Spill Compensation and Control Act by unlawfully discharging home heating oil onto the ground in a residential community in Union City. As a result of the intentional dumping of more than 50 gallons of heating oil onto the ground, the oil leeched into the Union City municipal sewer system. The investigation determined that Mariscal, an unlicenced contractor, was hired by a 38th Street homeowner to remove an underground home heating oil storage tank. As a result, Mariscal directed workers to empty the contents of the tank onto the ground in a vacant lot next to the residence. On May 9, the Union City Police Department responded to neighbor complaints about the smell of oil coming from the sewer located at the intersection of Bergen Turnpike and 39th Street in Union City. State Investigators from the Division of Criminal Justice - Environmental Crimes Bureau, the Union City Police Department and the Hudson Regional Health Commission traced the spill to the 38th Street location. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Spill Fund spent $23,000 to remediate the location. If convicted, Mariscal faces up to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $75,000. Mariscal will be ordered to appear in Hudson County Superior Court for arraignment. The indictment was handed-up to Mercer County Superior Court Judge Linda R. Feinberg on May 25.

A second State Grand Jury indictment charges a Pennsylvania resident and unlicenced waste hauler and his truck driver with the unlawful collection, transportation and disposal of construction debris at two locations in Paterson and Carlstadt. The six-count indictment charges German G. Cuadrado, 26, Susquehanna Trail, Allentown, PA, with unlawful collection of solid waste, illegal transportation of solid waste, receiving stolen property, and criminal mischief. The indictment also charges Daniel E. Estrella, 24, Berkeley Ave., Newark, Essex County, with unlawful collection of solid waste. The indictment alleges that Cuadrado, an unlicenced solid waste hauler, contracted with a Morris County demolition company to remove construction debris from a work site in Hackensack, Bergen County. Cuadrado claimed to be the owner of M&M Trucking Services, Inc. - in fact, a privately-owned waste hauling company which formerly employed Cuadrado. The investigation determined that Cuadrado and his worker (Estrella) actually worked for a New York-based garbage hauling company. The indictment charges that Cuadrado was unable to legally dispose of the construction debris and, as a result, participated in the theft of two trailers from a Kearny trucking yard. The trailers were filled with the construction debris and abandoned in late January and/or early February on 20th Street in Carlstadt and 23rd Avenue in Paterson. If convicted, Cuadrado faces up to 30 years in state prison and fines of up to $100,000. Estrella faces up to fives years in state prison and a fine of up to $15,000. Cuadrado, arrested last week by the Division of Criminal Justice, will appear before Bergen County Superior Court Judge Joseph Conte tomorrow (May 27) for a bail hearing and arraignment. The indictment was handed-up to Mercer County Superior Court Judge Maria Marinari Sypek on May 14.

The third indictment charges Carmine Teta, 46, Leonhard Drive, Haledon, Passaic County, with two counts of releasing and/or abandoning toxic pollutants, theft by deception, theft by unlawful taking, tampering with public records, misconduct by a corporate official and false swearing. The indictment charges John Yengo, Belmont Avenue, Jersey City, Hudson County, with two counts of releasing and/or abandoning toxic pollutants, witness tampering, and criminal mischief. The indictment alleges that Teta and Yengo unlawfully disposed of PCB and lead-contaminated soil removed from a Teta-owned property located at 565 Tonnelle Avenue in Jersey City. It is charged that the contaminated soil was illegally dumped at two sites in Jersey City - a New Jersey Department of Transportation storage yard and on Conrail-owned property in the Greenville Yards section. The indictment also charges that Teta fraudulently obtained a $92,962 Hazardous Site Remediation Fund Grant from the Department of Environmental Protection to clean-up the former junk yard site on Tonnelle Avenue. If convicted, each defendant faces more than 20 years in state prison and fines exceeding $600,000. Both defendants will be ordered to appear in Hudson County Superior Court for arraignment. The indictment was handed-up to Mercer County Superior Court Judge Neil H. Shuster on May 3.

The “Urban Environmental Initiative” represents a partnership between the Department of Environmental Protection’s Compliance and Enforcement Bureau and the Division of Criminal Justice - Environmental Crimes Bureau. The initiative is geared to response, investigation and prosecution of environmental crimes in urban communities and industrial areas and targets criminal activity such as the illegal dumping of construction debris and other solid waste, illegal discharges of pollutants into waterways and the air, and other activities which negatively impact the quality of life for residents in urban neighborhoods and communities.

Attorney General Harvey noted that in January, Governor James McGreevey signed a new solid waste crimes statute into law. The law greatly enhances the ability of the Division of Criminal Justice and county prosecutor’s to prosecute urban dumpers. The law created a second degree crime (five to ten years in state prison) for knowingly transporting or disposing of solid waste at unauthorized locations. The new law allows the Environmental Crimes Bureau to go beyond the criminal mischief statute previously used in the prosecution of illegal dumping cases.

The investigations and indictments were coordinated by Supervising Deputy Attorney General Edward Bonanno and Deputy Attorney’s General Robert Brass, Betty Rodriquez and Phil Leahy. Supervising State Investigator Wayne Smith and State Investigator Steven Ogulin conducted the investigations. All are assigned to the Division of Criminal Justice - Environmental Crimes Bureau.

Attorney General Harvey said that the key to a successful enforcement initiative against illegal dumpers must include the “eyes and ears” of neighborhood residents and community watch groups reporting suspicious activities. The DEP maintains a 24-Hour Environmental Hot Line -- 609- 292-7172 -- to receive reports of environmental crimes. Illegal dumping activity should also be reported to local police departments or county prosecutor’s offices. Additional information regarding environmental enforcement activities can be obtained by logging on to the Division of Criminal Justice web page at www.njdcj.org or the Department of Environmental Protection web page at www.state.nj.us/dep.

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