A Shady homeowner has agreed to have a neighbor’s well tested and to remove contaminated fill delivered by legally troubled contractor Joseph Karolys. Vince Conigliaro, owner of 10 Church Road in the Woodstock hamlet, hired geologist Jim McIver of the environmental and civil engineering firm CT Male Associates to come up with a remediation plan.
At a special meeting of the town board held October 29 via videoconference, McIver said the well water at 59 Reynolds Lane, owned by Frank Eighmey, will be tested for contaminants. Eighmey’s well is downhill and just 23 feet away from the fill dumped on Conigliaro’s property. A washout this summer brought some of the fill onto Eighmey’s property and even closer to his well.
Town supervisor Bill McKenna said the town board agrees that the situation is a big mess that needs to be fixed. “We are united in that cause just in case there was any doubt,” he said.
McIver said the first thing to do is protect the groundwater. “If [Eighmey’s] well is contaminated, then you know you have an issue,” he said.
McIver said he was not convinced the material has the sort of contamination that can quickly leach in to the groundwater. The fill contains chunks of concrete, brick, plastic, burned logs, ceramic pipe, asphalt, stones and fly ash. The ash, a byproduct of coal-fired power plants, is often used in the processing of concrete. It contains heavy metals and other toxins.
“First thing we want to do is test the first homeowner well. If that well is contaminated, the first thing would be to put a filter on it,” McIver said.
The well water will be tested for a large number of substances typically found in construction and landscaping including heavy metals, cyanide, chloride, sulfate, volatile organic compounds, PCBs, pesticides, glyphosate, PFOS and dioxane. Environmental laboratory Alpha Analytical will examine samples from the well and will be overseen by the town’s engineer, Dennis Larios.
McKenna said he expects to hear that testing has at least begun by the time the town board meets November 5 for a scheduled public hearing on the 2021 budget.
Hydrogeologist Paul Rubin of the Tivoli firm HydroQuest, who was hired by the neighbors, said he agreed with the list of substances to be tested for and the methods used. The most important thing, Rubin said, was to get rid of the soil as quickly as possible.
“We’ve got two contractors coming to bid on it,” said Conigliaro, who agreed to have the fill removed by the end of the year, as recommended by Rubin.
After a landfill is located that will take contaminated material, a contractor will haul it out until it is down to original soil, McIver explained. “Typically there’s a grid laid out, and samples are taken from the remaining soil. What you sample for would be based on initial results from the soil you took out.”
The contaminated soil will be tested before it is disposed of. The landfill operator that accept it needs to know what it contains.
“What he’s outlined is excellent,” Rubin said of McIver’s plan. “In order to get it disposed, you need to know what’s in it, so that’s covered.”
McKenna raised alarms in January about the fill being delivered to the Church Road property. McKenna and building inspector Ellen Casciaro visited the property several times but could not determine the type of material because it appeared to have been buried.
McKenna said the state Department of Environmental Conservation has not expressed interest in pursuing the matter. Dumping construction debris is a violation of the town solid-waste law.
Conigliaro said he ordered the fill for a project on the property and was unaware of problems until neighbors started asking questions and complaining to the town.
Karolys has been in legal battles with the state and the Town of Saugerties over disposal of construction and demolition debris on his properties on Route 212, Fel Qui Road and Goat Hill Road. State Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Karolys in June for flagrant violations of solid waste and water pollution laws at his three Saugerties dump sites.
Conigliaro reassured the neighbors who participated in the meeting. “This was never meant to happen, guys.” he told them. “I got screwed. But it’ll come out in the end.”
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