A North Bergen company that has seen its share of fines in the past few years, given by North Bergen Township’s fire code officials and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), has been hit with a half million dollar fine by a federal judge in New York.
On Monday, April 11, Eagle Recycling, owned by Lieze Associates, a solid waste management facility, pleaded guilty in a Utica, N.Y. federal court for allegedly conspiring to violate the Clean Water Act and to defraud the United States, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York and the U.S. Justice Department’s Environment and the Natural Resource Division.
The company admitted to one count of criminal felony resulting in a $500,000 fine for allegedly violating the Clean Water Act’s prohibition on filling wetlands and for committing wire fraud to conduct the act.
This is not the first time Eagle Recycling has been forced to pay up for its alleged illegal acts.
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Allegedly tried to hide dumping
According to the court documents, Eagle Recycling allegedly concealed the illegal dumping by fabricating a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) permit and forging the name of a DEC official on the fraudulent permit.
As a part of their plea agreement they admitted that they had a “systematic pattern of document concealment, alteration and destruction,” which included destroying documents during a federal search warrant execution, hiding documents from grand jury subpoenas, giving fraudulent certifications to the grand jury, and making false environmental samplings for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
“This investigation underscores the extent that environmental polluters will go to avoid New York and federal environmental laws,” said New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens.
In addition to paying the hefty fine, the company will also have to pay restitution, which could include future clean up costs on the land they allegedly polluted, along with instituting an environmental compliance plan at their North Bergen site.
Fraught with issues
Eagle Recycling did not return phone calls in time for publication and there is no listed number for Lieze Associates.
This is not the first time Eagle Recycling has been forced to pay up for its alleged illegal acts. According to Township Administrator Christopher Pianese the company has been shut down or had fines imposed numerous times.
After a structure fire on Feb. 16, Eagle Recycling was found in violation because it had “excess storage” inside of the structure and was told to clean up the facility. This violation closed the facility for three days and resulted in a $9,370 fine.
The site was closed in February, 2010 for 10 days and a “fire watch” was maintained 24 hours a day until their sprinkler system was fixed. The township closed the building again for 10 days again in March, 2010.
There were also two-alarm fires at Eagle Recycling on July 25, 2010 and Dec. 15, 2010, as well as other fires that North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue responded to.
Also, after OSHA conducted an inspection at the site in May 2009 and July 2010, it was found that Eagle Recycling had failed to correct numerous violations, including the lack of sufficient lockout/tagout systems needed for power machines, exposing workers to hazards, not enough exit signs, and failure to provide respirators to employees with medical evaluations. They also were cited for having a hole in the floor.
These alleged infractions resulted in a $71,600 fine.
Tricia Tirella may be reached at TriciaT@hudsonreporter.com.