Scott Bartlett Sentenced To Prison In Fairfield Fill Pile Case

BRIDGEPORT, CT — Scott Bartlett, Fairfield's former Department of Public Works superintendent, has been sentenced to four years in prison, suspended after 18 months served, for his role in illegal dumping of toxic soil in the Owen Fish Pond portion of the Fairfield fill pile case.

Bartlett, 61, showed little emotion as Superior Court Judge Tracy Lee Dayton read her decision in Bridgeport Superior Court Monday afternoon, but he wept as his adult children, Kimberly, Stephen and Christopher, spoke during the hearing in support of their father.

A jury found Bartlett guilty in May of eight out of nine charges, including illegal solid waste disposal; receiving solid waste without a permit; and operating an illegal solid waste facility. Dayton later dismissed two of the eight convictions — that had to do with specific days of solid waste disposal — because she did not believe there was enough evidence presented to support them.

He faced as much as a dozen years behind bars and fines of $25,000 for every day that the crime occurred. Dayton waived the fines, but said Bartlett will have to make restitution to the town.

"If I could ever get a do-over," Bartlett told Dayton. "I own whatever mistakes I made, but I never intended to do anything to deliberately hurt the town."

His attorney, Fred Paoletti, said his client intends to appeal the sentence, and asked for bond during the appeal. Dayton granted a $350,000 cash or surety appeal bond, meaning if Bartlett posts the bond, he can be released from prison while his appeal is heard.

Bartlett's children spoke of the harsh financial toll the case has taken on the family, so whether Bartlett can raise the bail is uncertain.

Bartlett is the first of seven defendants in the sprawling fill pile case to be sentenced. They were accused of orchestrating an illegal dumping scheme that saw thousands of cubic yards of soil contaminated with toxic materials to be dispersed throughout the town, including under the Penfield Pavilion.

At Owen Fish Pond, about 1,000 cubic yards of toxic fill was dredged and then dumped "on streets, parks, school playgrounds and various other sites" in Fairfield, according to First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick, who read an impact statement in court on Monday.

"I think it is important to understand Owen Fish is just one small part of a greater crime committed against the Town," Kupchick read (see the full letter below). "Through his department, Mr. Bartlett orchestrated a scheme to spread contamination throughout the Town."

Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Tamberlyn Chapman, who is the lead prosecutor for the fill pile case, sought a substantial sentence for Bartlett, in part because she said he knew what he was doing was wrong, and he had concealed the potential dangers of working with toxic materials from his employees.

At the hearing, Dayton said that she had received about 150 letters and emails from residents in support of Bartlett and against him. In the packed courtroom Monday, more than a dozen people raised their hands when asked if they were there in support of Bartlett, with many of them speaking about his hard work ethic, generous spirit and kindness.

Among those to speak in support of Bartlett was former Fairfield Public Works Director Richard White, who has a road named after him in town.

"I inherently trusted his decisions to do whatever is best for the town," White said, adding Bartlett worked for him for 20 years.

"I take no pleasure in days like today," Dayton said before delivering her sentencing decision.

She said that more than 200,000 gallons of sludge, which contained lead, arsenic, mercury and other contaminants, was removed from Owen Fish Pond and dumped in different sites in Fairfield.

"Environmental harm is real harm," Dayton said. "We all share the same planet."

Bartlett was handcuffed and led away following the sentencing, and after the hearing, Paoletti told Patch he had no comment.

Below is the full impact statement from First Selectwoman Brenda Kupchick:

Dear Judge Dayton,

Thank you for this opportunity to address the court on behalf of the citizens of Fairfield. My name is Brenda Kupchick and I am the First Selectwoman of the Town of Fairfield. I am a third generation Fairfielder and represent over 60,000 residents who have been aggrieved by the actions of Mr. Bartlett and his co-conspirators.

As you know, Mr. Bartlett stands convicted of various crimes which have all had a lasting negative impact on the Town and its taxpaying residents. Under his direct supervision, contaminated waste was deposited throughout the Town.

I understand this hearing is specifically directed to sentencing Mr. Bartlett in his role regarding the Owen Fish contamination. According to Town documents, approximately 1,000 cubic yards of contaminated fill was removed from this location and dispersed throughout the Town. To calculate the specific costs to dispose of such material at that time is a straightforward calculation. Specifically, it would have cost the Town approximately $.5 million to properly dispose of this waste.

I think it is important to understand Owen Fish is just one small part of a greater crime committed against the Town. Through his department, Mr. Bartlett orchestrated a scheme to spread contamination throughout the Town. As a result of subsequent investigations, we have ascertained that he directed the dumping of contaminated fill on streets, parks, school playgrounds and various other sites throughout the town.

Mr. Bartlett directed his department to dump contaminated fill on what’s been designated as the “40 sites” including Gould Manor Park, Penfield Beach Pavilion and of course, the main fill pile itself. Much has been said publicly in various forums about how much this is costing the town. For the Court’s understanding, I would like to provide a summary of our costs to date and what we expect to spend over the next few years to clean up this man-made public disaster.

The “40 sites” have cost the Town to date in investigation and remediation fees alone more than $3.05 million dollars. This money has been used to 1) ascertain the locations of the sites 2) ascertain the level of contaminants 3) cost to dig, test and remove the contaminants 4) pay for the proper disposal of the contaminated fill 5) provide clean fill as replacement 6) and finally, to meet with and obtain approval from the various regulatory agencies to “close” each site. We are now at a point where only approximately 7 sites are left to remediate. We fully expect our costs to finish these sites (which are some of the most expensive) will be approximately $2 million, excluding legal fees. The total costs for these sites alone will be in excess of $5 million.

At Mr. Bartlett’s direction, the Penfield Pavilion was built on a designated “platform” specifically constructed from contaminated fill. After investigation, we have determined with regulatory agency approval, that the cost to remove, dispose and replace all the Penfield contamination with clean fill will be approximately $5 to $5.5 million. (The Town has already spent approximately $.5 million on testing and sampling.) The records kept by Mr. Bartlett’s department are not complete and as such we still do not know the exact amount of contaminated fill located beneath the pavilion and will only uncover this fact after construction and remediation begins in the fall.

Finally, the fill pile itself remains a major concern on the part of the town. There is approximately 182,000 tons of contaminated waste located at this site alone and to date, the Town has spent $1.8 million on its remediation efforts there. We have not yet been successful in negotiating approvals from the various regulatory agencies on how to remediate this site to their satisfaction. We have had a number of conversations with these agencies wherein we have been advised that permissible remediation may require the removal and transport of all the contaminated fill to a specially permitted disposal facility located in another state. Our calculations under this scenario would expose the town to remediation costs in excess of $100 million. We continue to discuss various approaches to clean this site in an approved manner and hope to have a definitive remedial action plan approved by the regulatory bodies sometime in 2024.

In summary, the overall costs incurred to date exceed $6.3 million. The anticipated cost to finish the approved remediation sites is an additional $7.5 million. The fill pile remediation costs are as yet unknown, but could easily be in excess of all amounts expended to date. None of these costs include the hundreds, if not thousands of hours my staff has spent investigating and managing this debacle brought on by Mr. Bartlett and his co-conspirators.

This situation is a direct result of Mr. Bartlett’s failure to live up to the standards the residents expect from their town supervisors and especially one in a position of authority. Mr. Bartlett for many years held the trust of many administrations and town residents. He misused that trust for his personal gain. Given these undisputed facts, as the Town’s elected leader speaking on behalf of our residents, we hope and trust the court will sentence Mr. Bartlett in a manner commensurate with the cost and gravity of his crimes.

Sincerely,

Brenda L. Kupchick
First Selectwoman