The election in Woodstock may be over, but the environmental issues at Reynolds Lane in the hamlet of Shady remain unresolved. The issues are not likely to go away. Recently reelected town supervisor Bill McKenna, who has been saying his hands are tied in the situation, may need to take a more active role.
Residents Frank and Pam Eighmey have filed a new lawsuit seeking compensation for damages to their property from contaminated fill at 10 Church Road in Shady. They want the site to be declared harmful to the environment and water supply.
The lawsuit names as defendants 10 Church Road owner Vincent Conigliaro, his soon-to-be ex-wife Gina, Salvin Design, Joseph Karolys, the estate of Salvatore and Louise Conigliaro, the Town of Woodstock, its town board, and McKenna in his capacity as town supervisor.
McKenna scheduled discussion of 10 Church Road during a town-board meeting on Tuesday, November 28 at the Mescal Hornbeck Community Center, 56 Rock City Road, after a 7 p.m. public hearing on zoning changes. McKenna declined comment on the latest lawsuit because the town hadn’t yet been served notice.
The newest lawsuit, filed November 22, seeks to redress the “defendants’ repeated and continuing failure to address the environmental conditions present at the property … which conditions have caused and continue to cause harm to plaintiffs.”
Contaminated fill
On or around December 2019, the Conigliaros received fill containing construction and demolition debris. That material was found to contain benzo[a]anthracine, benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[k]flouranthene, chrysene, ideno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene and lead at levels exceeding state Department of Environmental Conservation guidelines. Also found was PFAS.
The material was delivered by Joseph Karolys, whose construction debris processing plan in Saugerties was shut down by the state.
The new lawsuit alleges the negligent handling of the contaminated fill has caused flooding, which has led to structural damage to the Eighmey house’s foundation at 59 Reynolds Lane.
“These impermissible emanations onto the Eighmey property as a direct result of the private defendants’ placement of contaminated fill on the site constitute repeated trespasses onto and over the Eighmey property, as well as a private nuisance,” the lawsuit alleges.
The 10 Church Road property is uphill from the Sawkill Creek, a main tributary to the Esopus Creek.Â
The presence of the material “presents a signficant, imminent threat to the safety of the Eighmeys’ drinking water, the drinking water of all residents of the Town of Woodstock as well as a threat to the healthfulness of the local environment, in violation of Article 1, Section 19 of the Constitution of the State of New York.”
They should have known
The lawsuit alleges that nobody at any time consulted with a qualified professional on addressing groundwater flow and the impacts of grading and filling the property. It cites the town for repeated lack of action and alleges the town officials either knew or should have known the fill is contaminated. It also alleges the town was aware the property sits atop a drinking water aquifer.
The Eighmeys and other members of the community “have for years attempted to reason with the municipal defendants, especially McKenna, and convince them to take action to protect” town residents, the lawsuit states. “Moreover, the Woodstock Environmental Commission has repeatedly petitioned the municipal defendants to intervene and to oversee the full removal of the material from the site, pointing out the significant environmental threat it poses.”
The town has “continued to ignore plantiffs’ and the community’s pleas for leadership and to protect their rights to clean water and a healthful environment by overseeing the full removal of the material from the site.
In what the Eighmeys call a recent scheme to keep the material on the site, the lawsuit points to a letter sent from the town to Vincent Conigliaro stating that if he didn’t start work the town would hire a contractor to remove all the fill it would levy Conigliaro’s tax bill at an estimated cost of $500,000. If he didn’t start work stabilizing the hill facing the Eighmeys and removing debris by September 1, 2022, the town would hire a contractor to remove all the fill.Â
On November 7, 2022, the Conigliaro estate applied for a building permit for “dirt removal and redistribution.” Included in the application was a one-page plan known as “Plan E.” The Eighmeys argue it was prepared by Salvin, Conigliaro’s lighting and production company, which lacks qualifications for earthworks or grading.
Contamination remains
While about four truckloads of debris was taken from the site, much of it was relocated on the property, away from neighbors. However, the Eighmeys argue it remains within 100 feet of their well. “Moving the C&D material around on the site does nothing to remediate the contamination or eliminate the exposure pathways that present significant risk to the environment and to human health and safety,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit alleges the flawed Plan E has caused significant flooding in the Eighmeys’ basement which never experienced an issue before. The flooding, the lawsuit alleges, has caused significant structural damage to the Eighmeys’ foundation.
The lawsuit alleges Vincent Conigliaro “took no steps whatsoever to ensure that the material was clean or that is was properly placed in order to avoid damages to the Eighmey property.” Further, it places blame on Karolys for knowingly delivering contaminated material and failing to take steps to avoid damage to the Eighmey property. Given Karolys’ checkered past with law enforcement, it contends the Conigliaros should have known Karolys would deliver contaminated material.
The Eighmeys seek an order to have the material immediately removed, the site restored to its original grade, and measures taken to prevent further damage.
They want that done at the defendants’’ expense.
They want a goundwater monitoring program in consultation with a qualified environmental consultant at the defendants’ expense.
They seek a declaratory judgment that the continued presence of the material presents an environmental, health and safety risk, and that all material be removed in consultation with a qualified professional.
In July 2022, McKenna suggested establishing a capital fund to begin remediation. Despite McKenna’s expectation the town would be reimbursed, councilman Bennet Ratcliff dismissed the idea as fiscally irresponsible. The town board never took a vote.
Woodstock deals with arraignments and tax relief
At a meeting shortened by snowy, slick roads, Woodstock’s town board entered an agreement to facilitate off-hours court arraignments and set a public hearing for tax exemptions for fire department volunteers.
The town board voted to authorize town supervisor Bill McKenna to enter in a memorandum of agreement with the Ulster County sheriff’s office that allows the agency to take custody and temporarily house arrestees.
A proposal is in the works for the creation of a centralized arraignment part [CAP] court to ease the logistical burden of assigning off-hours arraignments. CAP courts ensure a judge within the county is always available instead of the current practice of trying to locate a judge for an after-hours arraignment at the last minute.
The CAP court will also allow police officers to more quickly return to duty once the arrestee has been processed.
The town board also scheduled a hearing for December 12 at 7:05 p.m. on an amendment to the town taxation law to allow partial exemptions for volunteer members of the Woodstock Fire District. The exemption will only be available for those considered active members, a similar qualification required to be eligible for the volunteer firefighter pension.
Members earn points for certain activities, such as the amount of calls. Members need 50 points to qualify. After 20 years of service, members do not need to re-qualify.
“I like it because we’re recognizing our volunteer fire department, and also people can’t just sign up for it and say I want to be a part of it, and then not go for training, not go on any calls. They’ve been trained and are truly serving our community.” councilmember Laura Ricci said.
The continuation of a public hearing on zoning changes was rescheduled to November 28 at 7 p.m. at the Mescal Hornbeck Community Center, 56 Rock City Road. Also rescheduled to the same date was discussion of the contamination at 10 Church Road in Shady after the zoning hearing.
Councilmembers Bennet Ratcliff and Maria-Elena Conte voted against separating vouchers for legal expenses from other bills. Ratcliff could not immediately identify which bills were an issue and didn’t return requests for comment.
McKenna said there were four legal bills: two totaling $506 for work on a property-tax dispute, one for $75 from town prosecutor John McGovern for prosecuting traffic tickets, and another from McGovern for $547.50 for zoning cases involving the building department.
In the days following the meeting, McKenna said, he had asked Ratcliff to identify the objectionable legal bills, but said he did not receive a response.
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