What To Do If You Think You're A Victim In The Julian Case

FAIRFIELD, CT — There are several ways Fairfield residents can share their insights and concerns if they feel they may have been affected by the actions of those charged in connection with illegal dumping at the town public works yard. The options were outlined at a meeting for victims in the case, which was held Wednesday at Sacred Heart University and led by Senior Assistant State's Attorney Tamberlyn Conopask.

One thing that was discussed at the meeting was victim impact statements.

"A victim impact statement is your opportunity to describe to the court the physical, emotional and financial effects that the crime had on you and your family," according to a handout from the state Office of Victim Services that was provided at the meeting.

Victim statements can be emailed to dcj.victim@ct.gov.

Residents can also register for automatic notifications about the three defendants' court cases at vinelink.vineapps.com. Anyone in need of assistance signing up can call a help line at 877-846-3428.

Those with concerns or questions about site contamination can report the issues to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection at www.ct.gov/deep/cwp. To contact the EPA, they can visit www.epa.gov/home/epa-hotlines or www.epa.gov/aboutepa/forms/contacting-epa-new-england.

The victims meeting followed an eventful summer in Fairfield. In August, two town employees and an official with Julian Development — the company that operated the public works yard when contaminants were found at the facility — were arrested. Former director of public works Joe Michelangelo, former superintendent of public works Scott Bartlett and Julian Companies Owner Jason Julian are accused of crimes including larceny, forgery and dumping. Both Michelangelo and Bartlett have since been fired from their town jobs.

Around the same time as the arrests, asbestos was reported at a local park, and not long after that, the town released a list of 20 priority contamination testing sites that received fill material from the public works yard when it was operated by Julian between 2013 and 2016. Of those sites, 10 have been confirmed to contain contaminants such as asbestos, arsenic, lead and PCBs. The town is working with a specialist and state officials to remediate the locations.

Fairfield hired Julian to operate its public works yard and reduce the size of a pile of unused project material by 40,000 cubic yards. But over the next three years, the pile more than doubled in size, and days before the agreement was set to end, PCBs and lead were discovered on the property.

After conservation officials said the transportation and dumping of contaminated material could have violated state or federal law, police opened an investigation in 2017.

In addition to the criminal case, Fairfield has sued Julian for millions in damages and Julian has sued the town for defamation.