New Charges For Ex-Public Works Director In Fill Pile Case: FPD

FAIRFIELD, CT — New charges were announced for the second day in a row in connection with the investigation of contamination and mismanagement at Fairfield’s fill pile.

The charges, made public by police Friday, were brought against former public works director Joe Michelangelo, who is already accused of environmental and financial crimes associated with the pile.

Michelangelo, who was arrested Friday, joins four other current and former town officials recently charged with illegal disposal of PCBs and conspiracy in connection with the construction of the fill pile berm in 2018, according to police.

Michelangelo’s attorney, Eugene Riccio, declined Friday to comment on the new charges.

“I think it would be inappropriate for me to comment at this time,” he said.

All five officials facing new charges had authorized the use of PCB-contaminated material in the berm's construction, a violation of state law, police said.

The other four defendants are: Brian Carey, conservation director and interim head of public works; Emmet Hibson, former human resources director; Robert J. Grabarek, an environmental contractor hired by the town; and Scott Bartlett, former public works superintendent.

Michelangelo, Carey and Bartlett are also charged with illegal disposal of solid waste, receiving solid waste without a permit and an additional conspiracy charge after they allowed contaminated material dredged from Owen Fish Pond to be dumped at the fill pile while the berm was being built, according to police.

Carey, the only defendant still employed by the town, was placed on administrative leave this week pending an internal investigation.

The cases are being prosecuted by the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney’s Environmental Crimes Unit. A spokeswoman for the office did not immediately return a call Friday seeking comment.

The five defendants are free on a promise to appear in court Dec. 4.

In summer 2019, Michelangelo, Bartlett and contractor Jason Julian, of Julian Development, 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. All three have pleaded not guilty and requested jury trials.

Michelangelo’s charges prior to Friday have included first-degree larceny, second-degree forgery and a variety of environmental crimes including dumping, accepting waste without a permit and illegal disposal of PCBs, according to a document filed by prosecutors in February.

Also charged in connection with the case is Fairfield's former chief fiscal officer, Bob Mayer, who was arrested in January and accused of stealing a file related to the fill pile case and two folders on the Penfield Pavilion building project.

Fairfield hired Julian Development in 2013 to operate the fill 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 more than doubled 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.

In summer 2019, around the same time Bartlett, Julian and Michelangelo were initially charged, asbestos at a local park was reported to police in connection with the use of town fill. More than 80 areas in Fairfield have since been tested for contamination.

The vast majority of those sites have been deemed safe, but some locations were found to contain asbestos, arsenic and other contaminants, and are undergoing expensive remediation.

Fairfield's town attorney has estimated the cost of remediation of the pile and sites affected by its contamination at up to $10 million, but because town officials accepted a fraudulent performance bond from Julian Development, Fairfield has no recourse to seek financial restitution, according to police.