New York environmental regulators are investigating a trash-to-energy plant that sent its ash waste to the Brookhaven town landfill.
The Hempstead company Covanta burns trash and, in a deal with the town of Brookhaven, dumps the ash waste in the town landfill. According to a whistleblower lawsuit, the company mixed toxic waste into the ash. Covanta called the claims “baseless.”
In the lawsuit, the whistleblower accused the company of withholding records, including ash-testing results and trucking logs. These are the records now being sought by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
The DEC has on-site monitors at the Covanta plant in Hempstead. Several municipalities also suing the company have agreed to settle their claims against the company for $300,000. Brookhaven is still accepting Covanta’s trash-to-ash waste.
