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QUEENS---A New York City subcontractor hired to dispose of contaminated
solid waste has been charged with illegally dumping or selling more than 1,000 tons of the waste to various entities - including a Nassau County golf course and Queens homeowners - as "clean fill" and then billing the City for disposing of the waste.
Jerry Bass, 39, of 115-39 Dunkirk Street in St. Albans, Queens, and 130 West 117th Street in Manhattan, is the president of B & B Trucking, which has also been charged in the alleged scheme. Bass is being held pending arraignment on charges
of grand larceny in the third degree, attempted grand larceny in the third degree, forgery in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree, defrauding the government, scheme to defraud in the second degree, offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree, prohibited disposal and unlawful operation of a business
for removal of trade waste.
If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison and fines of up to $22,500
on each environmental violation. His corporation faces fines of up to twice the amount of the illegal gains.
District Attorney Richard Brown said that in order to save on
carting and dumping costs, the defendant knowingly dumped contaminated waste at a golf course in Nassau County and deceived people into buying the waste as 'clean fill' for their backyards."
In November 2004, the City's Department of Environmental Protection entered into a contract with AFC Enterprise, Inc., of 80-43 66th Avenue in Glendale to remove contaminated solid waste from various locations throughout the metropolitan area. The solid waste was extracted from the ground in connection with a DEP contract to maintain the water tunnels and reservoirs carrying New York City's water supply. Subsequently, AFC hired B & B Trucking as a subcontractor to remove and transport a large portion of the contaminated waste to a proper transfer station facility for the purpose of treating and disposing of the waste.
According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, instead of bringing the waste to a proper facility, Bass and his company are accused of transporting and disposing of 50 truckloads of the waste (1,000 tons) by knowingly dumping or selling it to various institutions as clean fill (dirt).
Among the alleged victims was the Woodmere (Golf) Club, located on Meadow Drive in Woodmere, and various homeowners who bought the purportedly 'clean fill' for backyard use. In order to conceal their crime, it is alleged that Bass and his company created 50 forged dump receipts, totaling approximately $75,000, from Jamaica Recycling, a transfer station located in Jamaica, Queens, indicating that all 50 truckloads had been properly dropped off. The defendants then allegedly submitted these forged receipts to DEP for payment and received more than $10,000 before the fraud was discovered. In some cases, it is alleged, the numbered receipts contained numbers already used by other transporter companies that had previously dumped waste at the facility and, in one instance, a receipt indicated a weight too large to fit in the trucks used to transport the waste.
On Jan. a court-authorized search warrant drafted by the District Attorney's Economic Crimes Bureau was executed at the defendant's two offices - located at his Queens and Manhattan homes - and recovered various documents allegedly indicating the locations of the contaminated waste, as well as $15,000 in cash and records allegedly indicating that he had been transporting waste throughout New York City for several years even though he doesn't have a permit to do so.
In addition, authorities allegedly recovered a loaded Ruger 9mm pistol from the Manhattan location and a fully loaded ammunition clip for an assault rifle at the Queens address.
The investigation began in October 2005 when DEP employees reported to DOI that some of Bass' receipts may have been forged. In December 2005, DOI and DEP contacted the Queens County District Attorney's Office.
1-16-06
© 2005 North
Country Gazette
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