Description
Today, a City of Bridgeport inspector issued a red slip (aka inspection "fail") to the man managing the foundation work site at 108 Beacon St.
This man -- who's described himself to people in the community as the "contractor of record" -- immediately stuck the red slip in his pocket. However, the red slip is supposed to be posted at the site for all to see. Why is there no enforcement?
Furthermore:
How did a "contractor" without a contracting license in the State of Connecticut pull a permit in the City of Bridgeport?
How did the site get any permits when it is in the Black Rock Harbor historic district and the City of Bridgeport Historic District Commission has not issued a certificate of appropriateness to the owner of this property for any/all plans presented to the Historic District Commission since 2019?
25 Comments
Suzanne Murray (Registered User)
shama lama ding dong 💩 (Registered User)
An anonymous SeeClickFix user (Registered User)
If the owners of 108 Beacon St followed the rules and codes, there'd be no outrage.
The man that the owners of 108 Beacon St have hired to manage the site was sentenced in 2015 to a year and one day in a federal prison for a "felony count of treating, storing, and disposing of hazardous waste without a permit, in violation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act." The judge is quoted as telling Brian Davis at sentencing, "you're somebody who likes to skate around regulations ..."
Read below.
Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Northern District of New York
Subject: Tioga County Man Sentenced To Prison For Environmental Crime Brian Davis to Serve One Year and One Day in Prison for Illegally Treating, Storing, and Disposing of Hazardous Chemicals in Owego, New York
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndny/pr/tioga-county-man-sentenced-prison-environmental-crime
Tioga County Man Sentenced To Prison For Environmental Crime
Brian Davis to Serve One Year and One Day in Prison for Illegally Treating, Storing, and Disposing of Hazardous Chemicals in Owego, New York
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Brian Davis 46, of Owego, New York, was sentenced to serve one year and one day in federal prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to one felony count of treating, storing, and disposing of hazardous waste without a permit, in violation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, announced United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian, Vernesa D. Jones-Allen, Special Agent in Charge, New York Area Office, Criminal Investigation Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA CID") and Basil Seggos, Acting Commissioner, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ("DEC"). In addition to the prison sentence, Davis was sentenced to pay a $5,000 fine and to serve a three-year term of supervised release after release from prison.
In June 2013, Davis, the owner of Large Car LLC, a company in Owego that installs and removes old industrial plating equipment for re-use or recycling, agreed to remove various hazardous chemicals, including arsenic, chromium, lead, and selenium, from a bankrupt waste generator facility in New Hampshire. Davis did not have a permit or environmental license to remove these chemicals, but nevertheless transported them to the Large Car LLC facility in Owego, New York, where he treated, stored, and disposed of them over the course of nearly a year. Davis stored the hazardous waste without labeling, and failed to properly isolate incompatible materials, or protect them from the elements. Davis also treated and disposed of much of this waste by igniting and evaporating it, mixing it with other materials, and shipping it to offsite locations without listing it on manifests, as required.
United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian said: "The illegal disposal of hazardous chemicals contaminates the environment and endangers public health. The defendant’s disregard of the statutory requirements that protect people and natural resources risked great harm. Prosecution of such conduct is a high priority."
"Industrial waste can pose serious threats to human health and the environment, so it’s imperative that companies dispose of their waste properly in order to protect local communities," said Special Agent in Charge Vernesa Jones-Allen, who oversees EPA’s criminal enforcement program in New York. "Today’s sentence demonstrates that when individuals refuse to comply with the law and put the public at serious risk, they will be held accountable for their actions." DEC Acting Commissioner Basil Seggos stated, "Violations of New York State’s environmental laws and regulations are serious offenses with serious consequences. This sentencing is the result
of the collaborative efforts of local, state and federal partners working together to accomplish a shared mission to protect our citizens and communities and should send a strong message that New York State has zero tolerance for those who shirk environmental policies and procedures put in place as protections."
This case was investigated by special agents and criminal investigators with EPA CID and DEC, and it was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael F. Perry.
https://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/public-safety/2015/11/24/owego-business-owner-gets-1-year-1-day-over-toxic-waste/76301732/
Business owner gets year in prison over toxic waste
John R. Roby
jroby@pressconnects.com | @PSBJRoby Nov 24, 2015
An Owego businessman will spend a year behind bars for improperly storing and disposing of hazardous waste, including repeatedly setting materials on fire and evaporating them.
A federal judge in Binghamton sentenced the owner of an Owego industrial recycling business to one year and one day in federal prison Tuesday for improperly storing and disposing of hazardous waste.
Brian Davis, 46, pleaded guilty May 12 to one felony count of violating the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Davis owns Large Car LLC, at 3481 Waverly Road in Owego.
As part of his sentence, Davis will also serve three years of supervised release and pay a $5,000 fine.
In his plea agreement, Davis acknowledged that for a period of 300 days between July 2013 and May 2014, he stored hazardous materials, including toxic heavy metals, without properly isolating them, protecting them from the elements, fencing their storage area or labeling them as hazardous.
Davis also admitted to disposing of “significant quantities of hazardous waste at the facility … by repeatedly igniting and evaporating it, thereby contaminating the environment, by mixing it with other materials, and by giving it away to others without manifesting it.”
He had faced up to five years in prison and a $15 million fine. Prosecutors had recommended a prison term of between 24 and 30 months, three years of supervised release and a fine of $50,000.
In presentencing motions, Davis' attorney had requested his client serve probation only, saying he "has been completely honest and upfront with his family, friends and business associates about his culpability, and since entering a guilty plea has continued to work diligently to repair his personal and business relationships."
On Tuesday, Binghamton attorney Patrick Kilker asked U.S. District Court Judge Thomas McAvoy to lessen the sentence, considering Davis "operates a unique business, one of the only businesses in the area capable of cleaning the environment."
Kilker requested "some combination of probation and home confinement so (Davis) can continue to work and be a productive member of society."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Perry pressed McAvoy for prison time as well as probation.
"Mr. Davis presents as an individual who knows only enough about environmental laws to be dangerous," Perry said.
In presentencing filings, prosecutors had argued that Davis' efforts at cleanup had been "anything but proactive."
“The defendant took so long and was so difficult to deal with during the cleanup process that the (overseeing) agencies were forced to threaten multiple times to take over the cleanup work entirely," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum dated Nov. 12. "Even when the defendant was allowed to continue his cleanup efforts, his methods were questionable at times, including one instance in which the teenage son of the defendant's girlfriend, who was not wearing appropriate protective gear, was allowed to either work or play (it was difficult to tell which) among the barrels of hazardous waste illegally stored on site.”
Before sentencing, Davis disputed the characterization. No minor child was allowed to handle waste, he said, prompting the judge to ask if the young man was not there. He was present, Davis said, but was not near anything toxic.
"I would never expose anyone to hazardous waste," he said.
After pronouncing the sentence, McAvoy described Davis as "a study in contrasts."
"You're a bright guy, and you have some good in you," McAvoy said. "But I think you're somebody who likes to skate around regulations. You can't live that way anymore. You've got a lot of mountains to climb, but I think you're the kind of guy who can do it."
The case was investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division and by criminal investigators with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Follow John R. Roby on Twitter @PSBJRoby.
Marc Walowitz (Registered User)
Attention All Concerned,
We are the owners of 108 Beacon St.
It has been quite the introduction to the community.
We have been bullied and disparaged.
Not what we expected when we happily bought in where we thought was a welcoming environment.
There have been some exceptions and to those we are grateful.
However difficult this has been we are committed to making a home for our family and friends in our new home on Beacon.
We have hired only the most reputable professionals in their fields.
From our site contractor Brian Davis, architects, civil engineer, plumbers, electricians ...
They have assured us that our build has the standards of safety and compliance we and the City require.
Thus our permits have been issued.
Although it has at times been discouraging and the process has caused more inconvenience than necessary to everyone.
We are pleased that all is moving along full steam ahead.
We hope to live peacefully among you.
This house is all about our family and our peeps and if we make a couple of friends along the way its a bonus.
Marc & Maggie Walowitz
Acknowledged Mayor's Office Official 3 (Verified Official)
Mayor's Office Official 3 (Verified Official)
Administrative Specialist-Tamar Morales (Verified Official)
Building Official 4-Grabowski (Verified Official)
6/28/22 Site Visit: 1:30 PM
The Contractor was not on site at time of visit. The orange card that is in question was a field inspection card that the Plumbing Inspector gave to the contractor. There were no visible violations on this site.
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