Former Fairfield Contractor Pleads Not Guilty, Seeks Jury Trial

FAIRFIELD, CT — A former environmental contractor for the town of Fairfield has pleaded not guilty after being charged last year with several felonies in connection with the ongoing fill pile scandal.

Robert J. Grabarek was silent Thursday as his attorney entered a not guilty plea and requested a jury trial during an appearance before Judge Tracy Lee Dayton.

Grabarek is one of five defendants, all of whom once worked for the town, to be accused of illegally disposing toxic polychlorinated biphenyls — or PCBs — during the 2018 construction of a berm at the town fill pile, according to police. He was arrested last fall and is charged with two counts of violating water pollution control requirements and one count of conspiracy to violate the requirements, according to court records.

Grabarek’s lawyer, Jeremiah Donovan, declined to comment after Thursday’s brief court appearance, other than to say he was still reviewing legal documents related to the case.

In addition to the criminal charges, the town of Fairfield in spring 2020 sued Grabarek and his company, Clinton-based Osprey Environmental Engineering LLC, seeking damages after Osprey advised the town to build the berm using contaminated material without state permission.

When workers involved in the construction of the berm asked Grabarek about protective equipment such as hazmat suits and respirators, he told them the equipment was available but unnecessary and that "it would just cause concern with the citizens," according to an affidavit for the criminal case.

Also charged in connection with the berm are former human resources director Emmet Hibson, former conservation director Brian Carey, former public works director Joe Michelangelo and former public works superintendent Scott Bartlett. The four co-defendants pleaded not guilty and asked for jury trials Tuesday.

Grabarek, Hibson, Carey, Michelangelo and Bartlett are all scheduled to next appear in court March 12, as is another former town contractor, Jason Julian, who is facing a separate set of charges related to the fill pile.

Carey, Michelangelo and Bartlett were also charged in late 2020 in relation to material from Owen Fish Pond which, despite being contaminated, was dumped at the pile while the berm was being built, according to police.

Additionally, in summer 2019, Michelangelo, Bartlett and Julian were arrested and accused of participating in a conspiracy to illegally run a dump for contaminated material at the fill pile and allow fraudulent billing, court records have shown.

Also, Fairfield's former chief fiscal officer, Bob Mayer, was arrested over a year ago and accused of stealing a file related to the fill pile case and two folders on the Penfield Pavilion project.

The town hired Julian's company, Julian Development, in 2013 to operate the pile and reduce the amount of material on the site by 40,000 cubic yards. But over the next three years, the pile tripled in size, and days before the agreement with Julian Development was set to end, contaminants were discovered on the property.

Police opened an investigation into activity at the pile in 2017. Fairfield's town attorney has estimated the remediation cost for the pile and sites affected by its contamination at up to $10 million.