DOJ Makes Arrests in Illegal Dumping Case

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has arrested the owner of a New Jersey solid waste management company and three associates on federal charges that they conspired to transport and dump thousands of tons of asbestos-contaminated debris at an upstate New York farm containing wetlands in 2006.

The four people arrested are Julius DeSimone, Rome, N.Y.; Donald Torriero, Wellington, Fla.; Cross Nicastro II, Frankfort, N.Y.; and Dominick Mazza, Tinton Falls, N.J. In addition to the four men, the DOJ indicted Mazza & Sons Inc., a New Jersey-based waste management firm.

The arraignment took place June 13, 2011, in Syracuse, N.Y.

The indictment describes a scheme to illegally dump thousands of tons of asbestos-contaminated, pulverized C&D debris that was processed at facilities operated by both Eagle Recycling and Mazza & Sons Inc.’s, New Jersey-based solid waste management facilities. The crushed debris was transported to and dumped at a farm in Frankfort, N.Y., owned by Cross Nicastro II. The farm contained federally regulated wetlands. Dumping and excavating operations were managed on-site by Julius DeSimone.

According to court documents, Torriero and other conspirators concealed the illegal dumping by fabricating a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) permit and forging the name of a DEC official on the fraudulent permit. Once the conspirators learned that they were under investigation, they reportedly began a systematic pattern of document concealment, alteration and destruction by destroying and secreting documents responsive to grand jury subpoenas and falsifying and submitting environmental sampling to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The indictment charges the defendants with conspiracy to defraud the United States, violating Clean Water Act and Superfund laws, and committing wire fraud. Torriero is also charged with wire fraud.   

According to a DOJ release, Mazza & Sons and its owner, Dominick Mazza, are charged with violating the Superfund law’s requirement to report the release of toxic materials and obstruction of justice. Mazza and DeSimone are charged with making false statements to EPA special agents. The indictments are related to the guilty pleas entered by Jonathan Deck and Eagle Recycling on Sept. 3, 2009 and April 11, 2011 respectively.