Former Fairfield HR Director In Court For Fill Pile Charges

FAIRFIELD, CT — Fairfield’s former human resources director was in court Thursday for the first time since being charged last year in connection with the town’s ongoing fill pile scandal.

Emmet Hibson said little as he stood before Judge Tracy Lee Dayton for the brief hearing, during which his case was moved from Bridgeport’s Golden Hill Street courthouse to the facility on Main Street, where he is set to appear Feb. 23 with several co-defendants.

“They’ll do the arraignment over there,” Dayton said.

Hibson is one of five former Fairfield employees accused of conspiracy and illegally disposing of toxic polychlorinated biphenyls — or PCBs — during the 2018 construction of a berm at the fill pile, according to police, who brought charges against the group in November.

Hibson’s attorney, Joseph D’Agostino, did not return a message Thursday seeking comment.

Also charged in connection with the berm are: Brian Carey, former conservation director; Joe Michelangelo, former public works director; Scott Bartlett, former public works superintendent; and Robert J. Grabarek, an environmental contractor hired by the town, police said.

Grabarek was scheduled to appear Thursday as well, but his attorney requested a new court date and the hearing was moved to Feb. 25.

Additionally, Carey, Michelangelo and Bartlett face a separate set of charges brought in November in connection with accusations that they allowed contaminated material dredged from Owen Fish Pond to be dumped at the pile while the berm was being built, according to police.

Also, in summer 2019, Michelangelo, Bartlett and former town contractor Jason 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.

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

The town hired Julian's company, Julian Development, in 2013 to operate the pile and reduce the amount of unused project 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 was set to end, contaminants were discovered on the property. Police opened an investigation into activity at the pile in 2017.