Ulster County NY (6/8/2022) – On May 23, an Ulster County man pleaded guilty to unlawful disposal of solid waste in excess of 70 cubic yards, a Class A misdemeanor. The case started in 2017, when DEC’s Division of Law Enforcement coordinated a Solid Waste Task Force with the agency’s Division of Materials Management to target large amounts of illegal construction and demolition (C&D) debris being dumped across the Southern District. Supporting the investigations stemming from the Task Force activity, DEC’s Bureau of Environmental Crimes Investigation and uniformed ECOs executed a search warrant with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in July 2018 at Woodstock Landscaping in Hurley. During the warrant, business records showed that Woodstock Landscaping was illegally taking payment for the disposal of C&D debris from multiple trucking companies in New York City and Long Island. On Aug. 15, 2019, David Gutierrez, the owner of Woodstock Landscaping, was arrested for operating an unpermitted solid waste facility and releasing in excess of 70 cubic yards of solid waste to the environment. With the recent guilty plea, Gutierrez agreed to pay a fine of $7,500; he and Woodstock Landscaping cannot act as a solid waste facility unless properly permitted by DEC to do so.