The town of Woodstock is seeking state Department of Environmental Conservation help in identifying material Joe Karolys’ Saugerties-based construction-and-demolition disposal operation has hauled to a parcel on Church Road in Shady. Supervisor Bill McKenna said Building Inspector Ellen Casciaro discovered “a dozen loads of fill” deposited on the property. Karolys is apparently selling the fill to a customer there.
When town officials questioned Karolys about the fill’s source, he would only say it came from Kingston and has refused to cooperate, raising doubts the fill is free of contaminants.
Given Karolys’ history, the town became suspicious and contacted the state Department of Environmental Conservation to request an investigation.
Karolys was stopped in December from using three properties in Saugerties near the Woodstock border as dumps for construction and demolition debris that came from the New York metropolitan area, after a long court battle in which he sought unsuccessfully to invalidate stop work orders issued by the Saugerties building inspector. In May, 2019, the state DEC raided Karolys’ Route 212 property and uncovered 39 alleged violations of clean water and solid waste disposal laws, and has issued its own requirement that Karolys desist from importing the material and that he clean the three properties. Tests found heavy metals and pesticides including DDT in materials dumped at the Route 212 site
“If [the fill] is clean and he would just be transparent about it, everyone would benefit and there wouldn’t be an issue,” said McKenna.
The supervisor is trying to raise awareness that Karolys may be seeking alternate locations since he was shut down in December.
The DEC did not confirm its involvement in time for publication.
Join the family! 
