As victims of an illegal C&D dump on our property, it was all too familiar news to see your recent article. We did not realize how widespread the problem was in Orange County and knowing who illegally dumped this fill has not helped to resolve our issue, as the fill still remains for over 9 months.
The county and town have worked to get the C&D fill removed but for us remediation is still in question. It was upsetting to watch a large spruce tree, near the fill, suddenly die after planting it with our son 35 years ago and a portion of our yard turned into small stagnant water pools. We are also now concerned about our nearby well.
Knowing the state has more power than the county or town, we contacted the DEC, as mentioned in your article. After 6 phone calls over 2 months, the DEC has an open file on our concerns, as there are also drainage issues as a result of the illegal dumping of the C&D fill, but we have yet to hear anything from anyone, other then to say they are short staffed.
This does seem to be the case with most agencies and professionals we’ve contacted. Hopefully some positive action will be taken, soon, to remediate our issue and for all people and places facing this same problem.
Lewis Jacobus
Chester