Glen Cove Business Owner Pleads Guilty to Releasing Toxic Chemicals Into the Sound

A Muttontown man was sentenced today for illegally releasing toxic chemicals into the ground at his business, just yards away from a Glen Cove waterway that leads into the Long Island Sound, the District Attorney reports.

John Doxey, 45, pleaded guilty today to Endangering Public Health, Safety or the Environment, a misdemeanor offense, and was sentenced to a conditional discharge with the agreement that he completes the clean up of his property under the supervision of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Doxey has already spent $25,000 towards the clean up.

“My office pursued this case to make sure that this defendant would be held accountable for his crimes, and to ensure that he would bear the full cost of the clean up, at no cost to the taxpayers,” Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said. “My office will continue our efforts to preserve Nassau County’s natural beauty and to protect people from the environmentally reckless actions to which this defendant pleaded guilty today.”

Doxey was arrested by DA investigators in May 2012 and was charged with illegally releasing toxic automotive fluids into the ground of his salvage yard located at 4 Park Place, just south of the Glen Cove waterway. State law mandates that fluids like gasoline, motor oil and transmission fluid be drained and properly stored for disposal before disassembling vehicles.

Doxey’s arrest came about after an investigation by DA Rice’s office, the Glen Cove Police Department, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Nassau County Police Department CAP Squad.