Area contractor Joseph Karolys and his wife Rachel have been ordered under a judgment by a state court on May 15 to pay an $8-million penalty to the state attorney general “and remove and properly dispose of all solid waste” at three properties in Saugerties.
“The recently secured order illustrates the power of New York’s stringent environmental laws and should serve as a reminder that there are serious consequences for violations of laws designed to protect our environment,” governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement.
The Karolyses repeatedly accepted construction-and-demolition (C&D) debris from the New York City and Long Island at one of their Saugerties properties when they were only authorized to receive waste from Dutchess and Ulster counties. They then disposed of over 100,000 cubic yards of illegal debris at two unauthorized dump sites in Saugerties.
The Karolyses have since admitted to the illegal activity on their properties at 1446 Route 212, 90 Goat Hill Road and 33-43 Fel Qui Road.
Attorney general Letitia James sued Karolys and his wife in 2020 for illegally accepting construction debris. In 2023, James sued 29 waste transporters and brokers for hauling 3000 loads of material to the Karolys property.
“Joseph and Rachel Karolys repeatedly demonstrated a willful disregard for New York State law, and DEC took aggressive actions to protect our communities and hold these polluters accountable. Illegal dumping can pose a serious threat to public health and the environment and is not tolerated in New York,” DEC interim commissioner Sean Maher said in a statement.
Nothing in the statements mentioned 10 Church Road in the Woodstock hamlet of Shady, where Karolys delivered fill containing construction-and-demolition debris, a bone of contention for neighbors. Authorities raided his Route 212 property several times in connection with illegal dumping allegations.
Joseph Karolys is in jail awaiting trial on manslaughter, assault and evidence tampering in an unrelated matter. Karolys allegedly beat David “Mickey” Myer to death at a Greene County bar in October 2022, and then left his body on Route 32.
“You’ve got to do more”
Woodstock town supervisor Bill McKenna is disappointed that state agencies have not included 10 Church Road in Shady in the case of illegal dumping of contaminated construction debris at three Saugerties sites that resulted in a recent $8-million judgment against Joseph and Rachel Karolys.
“It’s always been very frustrating to me,” McKenna said. “I cannot make sense of the fact that there’s an issue there and there’s not an issue here.”
A state Supreme Court judge last week ordered the Karolyses to clean up the Saugerties properties, but made no mention of the Shady site.
“I am going to pursue it with them and find out, because I’ve maintained for ages we need to get a court order. We just can’t go on somebody’s property if they’re not going to clean it up,” McKenna said. “Vince [Conigliaro] has already said he’s done as much as he’s doing and no more. So there needs to be a court order to say, Yeah, you’ve got to do more, and if you’re not, the town is going to do it.”
Conigliaro can argue that the DEC doesn’t have a problem with the site, McKenna said, “and that gives him cover.”
McKenna said he was working with Bob Wolfe and Erin Moran of the local environmental commission to see whether there might be a change of heart or a change of thinking over at the DEC. When the town tried to get attorney general Letitia James’ office involved, they “wouldn’t even return our phone call,” McKenna said.
Residents of Reynolds Lane near the Shady dump site have criticized McKenna for his handling of the cleanup and for lack of action against property owner Conigliaro, whose wife ordered the fill Karolys delivered in late 2019 and through 2020.
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