Karta Container Reaches Agreement with City

According to public documents under the agreement reached between the two sides the agreed to settlement has Karta moving about 80 percent of its operations to the new site, which Karta presently owns.

The facility handles both traditional recyclable materials such as old corrugated containers and newspaper, as well as construction and demolition material.

Under the new plan the company will likely cut the amount of material it takes in and processes by roughly 50 percent, while moving some of the storage to the new site, which has direct rail access.

Other conditions call for hiring an environmental monitor chosen by the city at Karta's expense, limiting hours of operation, and reducing solid-waste processing from approximately 4,000 tons to 750 tons per day.

"The overall package I feel good about because it will be good for me and good for the community," Kenneth Cartalemi, Karta's owner, said yesterday. "I see a lot of improvement as a result of this for my property and helping the city develop the waterfront."

According to local press reports the city of Peekskill revoked Karta's operating permit because it had failed to correct its environmental violations. Karta, which filed for bankruptcy in 2002, obtained an injunction because a federal judge gave precedence to the reorganization proceedings.

Karta filed a $20 million federal lawsuit against the city, alleging breach of a 1988 contract with the company for recycling services. The settlement, which still needs approval from the bankruptcy court, dismisses the suit.