The SCI report released today into criminal presence in the state’s solid waste industry cited numerous reasons for the continuation of the problem:
* Criminals are not explicitly barred from holding even an “indirect beneficial interest’’ in licensed solid waste businesses;
* Enforcement suffers due to inadequate resources, funding and personnel. There are 1,300 licensed haulers in the state, with another 100 or so applying annually for licenses, although both the Attorney General and state police have increased their personnel this year who are responsible for this area, the report acknowledged;
* Information is not adequately shared among responsible regulatory agencies.
As one example of the problem, the report cites the case of Joseph Lemmo Jr., a former waste hauling company principal who served a prison sentence for racketeering and was identified as an associate of the Genovese criminal organization, but who in 1995 was still able to re-enter the industry through what the report called a “back door.’’
Lemmo owned a truck rental company in South Plainfield, which leased tractor trailers to an East Brunswick company owned by his cousin, which had a contract to transfer solid waste to landfills in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the SCI report said.
Lemmo’s company posted profits at one point of more than $1 million a year, the report stated.
“Even though DEP (the Department of Environmental Protection) was aware’’ of the truck leasing arrangement, that fact was not told to investigators in the Attorney General’s office, the report stated.
Action was not taken until 2008 when based on an SCI referral, steps were taken to sever Lemmo’s ties to the industry, according to the SCI findings.
The report contained other such specific examples that it stated show how deficient enforcement is.
Earlier story:
SCI solid waste corruption report urges licensing, statutory solutions
Waste management financial disclosure bill raises issues of transparency
Four vetoes, but Lesniak’s waste management bill gets through Christie’s net
