DEC requests years of records from Covanta after Gov. Kathy Hochul orders probe
The Covanta waste-to-energy facility. Credit: Barry Sloan
State officials have requested years of records from the owner/operator of a waste-to-energy plant in Hempstead, including logs that could shed light on a whistleblower's assertion the company improperly mixed toxic waste transported to the Brookhaven landfill.
A recent letter from the state Department of Environmental Conservation to plant owner Covanta requests six categories of internal records from the plant from the years 2006 through 2014, according to a copy of the official request shown to Newsday.
Covanta is in the process of being sold to Swedish investment conglomerate EQT for $5.3 billion.
Newsday first reported on the launch of a state investigation of Covanta’s practices, initiated by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration on Nov. 16.
The DEC letter, dated Nov. 17, was obtained by attorneys for a former employee of the plant who has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the company.
The suit alleges Covanta improperly mixed ash from the plant for nearly a decade.
Covanta transported nearly all its ash waste from the Hempstead plant to Brookhaven, in a trash-to-ash pact that is still in place.
The former employee, Patrick Fahey, filed suit on behalf of the state, the towns of Brookhaven and Hempstead, the Village of Garden City, and the Long Island Power Authority.
LIPA, Garden City and Hempstead have agreed to settle the suit for amounts plaintiff’s lawyers have said were less than $300,000.
Brookhaven Town declined to comment on the DEC probe.
Covanta, which has denied improprieties and called the whistleblower lawsuit "baseless," nevertheless said it was "cooperating fully" with the DEC's request.
"We have responded to the DEC’s request and will provide additional information if and as requested by the authorities," Covanta spokeswoman Nicolle Robles said in a statement.
"We have nothing to hide, and the DEC has full access to Covanta’s operations at all times," Robles said. "We pride ourselves on the safe and compliant operations of our waste-to-energy facilities and the essential service they bring to Long Island residents."
Covanta operates four waste-to-energy plants on Long Island, and owns three of them, including the Hempstead unit.
Among the records requested by the DEC are ash-testing results for "all in-house use and formal submission" to the DEC from 2006 through 2012.
The agency requested a summary of "failed ash tests" from 2006, and crane-operator logs for ash mixing and truck loading for 2007, 2008 and 2011 through 2013.
The DEC in a statement to Newsday confirmed it was conducting a "comprehensive investigation into allegations of improper ash mixing and disposal of ash by Covanta at the town of Brookhaven landfill."
The probe is "examining the recordkeeping and reporting related to ash management practices, including sampling and testing, as well as operational practices, such as the method of mixing and loading of ash for disposal at the landfill," the DEC said.
Covanta provided records within 30 days as requested, the agency said.
Lawyers for Fahey have accused Covanta of failing to provide many of the logs the DEC is now requesting as they’ve worked to build their case in court.
The attorneys also have asked the court to sanction the company for failing to produce them.
"We welcome the news that regulators are looking into Covanta Hempstead's ash management practices," Fahey lawyer David Kovel said.
"We are confident that they will find, consistent with our client's allegations, that the practices violated environmental regulations and endangered the health and safety of the constituents of the three municipalities," Kovel said.
The DEC also is seeking all approved ash management plans from 2006 through 2014, and "all engineering calculations and operating records related to the generation of bottom ash and fly ash since 2006."
Precise mixing of bottom ash and lighter fly ash is important in helping prevent dispersal of toxic ash in the transport and disposal of the material.
The DEC has on-site monitors at this and other Covanta plants to make sure the ratios are proper.
Kovel said documents already produced by Covanta in the case "demonstrate that it engaged in fraudulent testing, misrepresented its procedures and dumped a multimillion dollar danger mess of ash at the Brookhaven landfill."
According to court records, Fahey alleges that a former DEC monitor for the plant "improperly leaked" the existence of a state probe into plant practices to a Covanta manager after Fahey filed suit under seal in 2013.
The DEC in previous responses to Newsday said the DEC monitor "retired and passed away several years ago," and that the current monitor "oversees activities at Covanta to ensure compliance "with all appropriate laws and regulations applicable to the facility and to notify DEC to take action if any violations occur."
The DEC’s recent request for documents calls for Covanta to submit them within 30 days of the Nov. 17, 2021, letter.
Also this week, the DEC said it had named Cathy Haas acting regional director for DEC's Region 1, covering Long Island. Haas has worked for three decades in the regional office.
Former chief of staff Sean Mahar has been named state DEC executive deputy commissioner.
Robert Calarco, the former Democratic presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature, was named assistant regional director for Long Island.
Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.
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