Now that Tuxedo’s wood chipping facility has been fingered as an environmental problem, what next?

The town’s consultant on the issue, Land Use Ecological Survey, Inc., released findings related to the March 2012 fish kill at Four Corners Pond in Sterling Forest State Park. LUES’s report stated that “the Town wood chipping facility has been the source of additional nutrients and organic matter that have caused the eutrophic and oxygen depleted conditions in Caretakers Marsh and upper reaches of the south branch of Warwick Brook.”

Monday night the Tuxedo Town Board met to discuss the mulch pile mess. According to Times Herald-Record reporter John Sullivan, Deputy Town Supervisor Gary Phelps said that if the studies show problems at the site, which they did, then the town would “do what we had to do to make it right.”

The NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) faulted Tuxedo in a April 13, 2012 letter that read: “DEC water tests concluded that operations at the Tuxedo mulch site on Long Meadow Road resulted in numerous water quality impairments that caused the mid-March fish kill along Warwick Brook and Four Corners Pond.”

DEC Consent Order went into effect on the day of its signing, which was either Monday or Tuesday, November 26th or 27th, according to Roger Freidman. The order gives the town 90 days to bring the operation into DEC compliance.

Roger Friedman wrote a recent editorial for TPFYI that explores just what Tuxedo must do to come into compliance with the Long Meadow Road. According to Friedman, “Failure to comply will result in fines compiled daily.  The fine is $1,000 per day for failure to comply within the first month, $2,000 per day in the second month, and $3,000 per day thereafter.  The effective date of the order is October 11, so we are already well into the second month.”

Tuxedo Town Supervisor Peter Dolan said that Perfect Cut would pay compliance costs but that the landscaping company is currently exploring its options — meaning, it may just decide to move. It is not clear what would happen if Perfect Cut decided to shutter the operation and leave. Who would pay for remediation of the site? Should that happen, Tuxedo may be hit with a bill much higher than DEC compliance fines.

Dolan also cited the need for the town to have yard waste recycling capabilities. It’s not clear if Tuxedo’s leaves and yard waste pickup make their way to the Perfect Cut site.

Friedman’s editorial, as well as Sullivan’s article, gives specifics on what the town must do to bring the smoldering mulch mountain under control, including hiring a state monitor to ensure Tuxedo follows the rules.

The larger question, left unanswered, is this: How close is Tuxedo to actually coming into compliance with the DEC order? And when do the fines kick in, and who pays for them?

Note: The article has been slightly revised to clarify when the DEC Consent Order to Tuxedo goes into effect. See reader comments below for more information.