Illegal Trash Heap In Newark Stretched Four Football Fields: OAG

NEWARK, NJ — A New Jersey man’s alleged illegal dumping scheme, which took place years ago and cost $1.7 million to clean up, may have finally come back to haunt him, authorities reported Thursday.

On Feb. 28, the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General announced that Abdullah S. Bryant, 40, of Newark, has been indicted on several charges, including criminal mischief, vandalizing railroad property and illegal disposal of solid waste.

Bryant – who did business under various names, including International Rubbish Removal – is accused of collecting, transporting and dumping huge mounds of trash and waste in Newark near sections of I-78, US Route 22 and Route 21.

The illegal dumping allegedly took place between January 2016 and April 2017, prosecutors said.

When state inspectors arrived at the dump sites, they found heaps of trash that stretched the lengths of several football fields. The nauseating cocktail of garbage included household items, discarded paper, construction materials, flammables, asbestos, medical waste, lead paint and “other hazardous materials,” prosecutors said.

At one site – underneath an elevated stretch of I-78 and US 22 – inspectors discovered a debris field 1,000 feet long and 500 feet wide. At the other – under Rt. 21 – the trash heap was just as ugly, measuring 1,200 feet long and 50 to 150 feet wide, prosecutors said.

The combined cleanup costs at the two sites exceeded $1.7 million, authorities reported.

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT) Office of the Inspector General first alerted the Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) about the illegal dump site under I-78 and US 22 in March of 2017.

Later that month, NJ Transit police alerted the DCJ about the second illegal dump site under Route 21, prosecutors said.

DCJ investigators ended up sifting through the garbage in an attempt to track down its “points of origin,” and conducted “numerous” interviews at the source locations. In the end, investigators identified Bryant as the person who was paid to remove waste from those locations, prosecutors said.

Bryant was not authorized by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to collect solid waste or dispose of it at the sites in question, as required by state law, prosecutors said.

The DCJ obtained a six-count state grand jury indictment on Feb. 26, charging Bryant with the following offenses:

• Criminal Mischief (3rd Degree) (I-78/U.S. 22 site)
• Criminal Mischief (3rd Degree) (Route 21 site)
• Vandalizing Railroad Property (3rd Degree) (Route 21 site)
• Illegal Collection of Solid Waste (3rd Degree)
• Illegal Transportation of Solid Waste (3rd Degree) (I-78/U.S. 22 site)
• Illegal Disposal of Solid Waste (3rd Degree) (I-78/U.S. 22 site)

Third-degree charges carry a sentence of three to five years in state prison and a fine of up to $15,000, prosecutors said.

It’s not just aesthetics at risk when people illegally dump, prosecutors pointed out. For example, the I-78 site is the same elevated stretch of highway that suffered severe structural damage in August of 1989 when an illegal solid waste dump caught fire.

“Far too frequently polluters will dump waste and hazardous materials in disadvantaged areas, where they believe they can violate the law with impunity,” Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said Thursday.

“Today we send a clear message to illegal dumpers: if you pollute our communities, not only will we pursue you with civil actions, we will prosecute you criminally,” Grewal said. “Everyone, no matter their race, ethnicity, color, national origin, or income deserves to live and work in a healthy and clean environment, free from the harmful and degrading effects of polluted air, contaminated water and illegal dumping.”

• See related article: Environmental Bullies Are Picking On NJ Minorities, Poor

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Keep updated with local public safety alerts at the Patch Newark Facebook page.