Fairfield Fill Pile Consultant Rejects Plea Deal, Will Go To Trial

FAIRFIELD, CT — Environmental consultant Robert Grabarek, one of the defendants in the years-long Fairfield fill pile case, rejected a plea deal this week in favor of heading to trial, CT Insider reported.

Grabarek pleaded not guilty following his 2020 arrest in the case on charges related to the illegal dumping of contaminated soil at the fill pile berm. Toxic polychlorinated biphenyls — called PCBs — were dumped at the site in 2018.

His company, Clinton-based Osprey Environmental Engineering LLC, was hired as an environmental consultant by the town to clean up the site. Grabarek is alleged to dissuaded Department of Public Works employees from using hazmat suits and protective equipment while working on the berm, because he said it would alarm residents.

Under the rejected plea deal, Grabarek reportedly could have faced up to four years in prison, and he would have been ordered to pay $3 million in restitution to Fairfield. His attorney could argue for less jail time.

Jury selection in Grabarek's trial is scheduled to begin in September.

In addition to the criminal trial, Grabarek is also facing a lawsuit filed by the town, which claims Osprey Environmental did not obtain federal approvals for the berm cleanup.

A total of seven people — five former Fairfield officials, Grabarek and another contractor — were arrested in connection with the sprawling, years-long fill pile case, in which tons of contaminated fill material was illegally dumped throughout Fairfield. The environmental cleanup is costing the town millions of dollars.

Read the CT Insider story.

Fairfield fill pile case

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