John R. Hagerty 609-984-1936

TRENTON — Attorney General Peter C. Harvey announced that the Attorney General’s Urban Environmental Initiative has obtained a State Grand Jury indictment which charges an Essex County businessman with stealing tractor-trailers, filling them with construction debris, and abandoning the garbage-laden trailers on the streets of Newark and Irvington in order to avoid the costs to legally dispose the debris.

Attorney General Harvey noted that Urban Environmental Initiative continues to successfully investigate and prosecute urban environmental crimes. During 2004, the Division of Criminal Justice - Environmental Crimes Bureau obtained 18 criminal indictments, guilty pleas and/or criminal Accusations charging 25 individuals or corporations with illegal acts ranging from the intentional discharge of hazardous and potentially toxic wastewater into public waterways, to the illegal dumping of thousands of tires in environmentally sensitive areas, to discharging contaminated wastes near residential communities, to abandoning trailers full of solid waste and construction debris in urban neighborhoods. The Environmental Crimes Bureau has also collected more than $600,000 in fines and restitution.

“The Urban Environmental Initiative is committed to protecting urban communities from the illegal, unscrupulous, and often dangerous practice of dumping debris and hazardous materials in or near residential communities and neighborhoods,” Attorney General Harvey said. “As our cities and urban areas undergo renovation and rebuilding, there will be those who try to cut corners and improperly dispose of demolition debris, solid waste and hazardous and toxic chemicals in back lots and alleyways. The Attorney General’s Office is determined that New Jersey’s communities will not be dumping grounds and that the residents living in urban settings are not the forgotten New Jerseyans.”

According to Vaughn L. McKoy, Director, Division of Criminal Justice, James E. Bailey, 49, Pleasant Avenue, Montclair, Essex County, was charged in a nine-count State Grand Jury indictment with receiving stolen property and criminal mischief. If convicted on all counts, Bailey faces up to 45 years in state prison and fines of up to $135,000. The State Grand Jury indictment was handed-up to Mercer County Superior Court Judge Neil H. Shuster on Dec. 20.

The indictment alleges that Bailey, the owner/operator of an Essex County-based demolition company known as Certified Associates, Inc. and located in Irvington, obtained stolen tractor trailers, filled the trailers with construction debris, and then abandoned the trailers at various locations in Essex County. The indictment charges that between September, 2003 and September, 2004, Bailey and/or an employee, abandoned the trailers to avoid the cost of legal disposal. The abandoned trailers were recovered by law enforcement officers at the following locations:

• Sept. 24, 2003 - A stolen 1998 garbage trailer owned by Rio Trucking, Inc. and leased to DJM Co., Inc., Kearny, Hudson County, filled with construction debris, was recovered by the Newark Police Department at Magazine and Paris Streets in Newark;
• April 8, 2004 - A stolen 1989 garbage trailer owned by AWF Trucking Inc., Kearny, Hudson County, filled with construction debris, was recovered at Bailey’s construction company yard by State Investigators from the Division of Criminal Justice;
• April 12, 2004 - A stolen 2000 garbage trailer owned by Rio Trucking, Inc., Kearny, Hudson County, filled with construction debris, was recovered on South 16th Street in Newark by federal and Essex County law enforcement officers;
• May 2, 2004 - A purported Bailey employee was arrested by Irvington Police while driving a stolen 2000 garbage trailer owned by Kephart Trucking, Bigler, PA.
• May 7, 2004 - A stolen 2000 garbage trailer owned by Kephart Trucking, Bigler, PA, filled with construction debris, was recovered on South 16th Street in Newark by State Investigators from the Division of Criminal Justice.

On Nov. 8, Henry E. Pettaway, 42, Summer Avenue, Newark, Essex County, pleaded guilty before Essex County Superior Court Judge Michael Petrolle to multiple counts of receiving stolen property and criminal mischief. In pleading guilty, Pettaway, purportedly employed by Bailey, admitted to stealing tractor trailers which were then filled with construction debris and abandoned at various locations in Essex County. Pettaway is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 24, 2005.

The investigation and prosecution was conducted by Deputy Attorney General Betty Rodriquez and State Investigator Steven Ogulin assigned to the Division of Criminal Justice - Environmental Crimes Bureau.

The Urban Environmental Initiative represents a partnership between the Department of Environmental Protection’s Compliance and Enforcement Bureau and the Division of Criminal Justice - Environmental Crimes Bureau. The initiative is geared to response, investigation and prosecution of environmental crimes in urban communities and industrial areas and targets criminal activity such as the illegal dumping of construction debris and other solid waste, illegal discharges of pollutants into waterways and the air, and other activities which negatively impact the quality of life for residents in urban neighborhoods and communities.

Attorney General Harvey said that the key to a successful enforcement initiative against illegal dumpers must include the “eyes and ears” of neighborhood residents and community watch groups reporting suspicious activities. The DEP maintains a 24-Hour Environmental Hot Line -- 609- 292-7172 -- to receive reports of environmental crimes. Information regarding environmental enforcement activities can be obtained by logging on to the Division of Criminal Justice Web site at www.njdcj.org or the Department of Environmental Protection Web site at www.state.nj.us/dep.

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