Court says firm should be barred from trash industry

By MICHELLE LEE, Staff Writer, 609-272-7256. Posted: Friday, July 3, 2009 in the Press of Atlantic City.

The state Administrative Law Court ruled that an Egg Harbor Township trash company with a record of environmental violations should be stripped of its certificate to run a solid-waste company and be barred from the solid waste and recycling industry altogether.

The court's ruling against Magic Disposal Inc. will be sent to the state Department of Environmental Protection commissioner for review and possible changes. The commissioner has 45 days to make a final decision.

Magic Disposal, headquartered at 3043 Ridge Ave., operated a garbage-processing facility from 1996 to 2005. The DEP revoked the company's solid-waste permit for that facility in January 2005 for multiple violations between 2002 and 2004. Magic Disposal still has an office in the township and continues to transport waste.

The DEP later issued a $700,000 fine against Magic Disposal for problems that included accepting hundreds of tons of trash over their limit and storing cardboard and other waste in open piles, which attracted rats and created other health and safety problems. The violations also stated that the company did not clean up the floors every 24 hours, failed to use air-pollution control equipment and had poor water drainage.

This week's decision came from a motion the DEP filed in November 2006 to revoke Magic Disposal's solid-waste certificate and ban the company from the industry. The DEP cited Magic Disposal's history of ignoring environmental laws, with more than 100 violations going as far back as 1996. The DEP also alleged that Magic Disposal and the company's owner, Steven Waszen, failed to pay federal and state income and corporate taxes, civil penalties and liens for several years, which at one point totaled $4.6 million.

In a 44-page decision released Wednesday, state Administrative Law Judge Jeff Masin sided with the DEP and found "overwhelming evidence" to strip Magic Disposal and Waszen of the certificate and debar them. Masin wrote that Magic Disposal and Waszen previously failed to exhibit "sufficient integrity, reliability, expertise, and competency" with handling and disposing of solid waste. Masin also wrote that Waszen did not have "good character, honesty and integrity" in relation to his business operations and conforming to solid-waste industry laws.

Waszen did not return phone calls seeking comment Wednesday and Thursday. His attorney, Frank Olivo, said his client is an "extremely reputable waste hauler" who serves several Atlantic City casinos. Olivo said Waszen "should absolutely not be banned" from the solid-waste industry and they plan to appeal the decision. The company also has an appeal pending on the state DEP's $700,000 fine.

Olivo said the DEP is "going after" the company because it uses a Pleasantville train trash-transfer facility the state tried to shut down. He said Magic Disposal's waste transporter license was renewed for another two years Wednesday. Larry Hajna, a DEP spokesman, said he could not verify the license renewal late Thursday night.

Olivo said his client paid all the state and federal taxes. State Treasury spokesman Tom Vincz said the company still owes $15,987 in business taxes for December 2008. David Stewart, an IRS spokesman, could not be reached by telephone Thursday to confirm if the federal taxes were paid.

As of March 2009, Magic Disposal and Waszen still owe about $4.2 million in other penalties and fines, Lee Moore, a spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office, wrote in an e-mail. That includes $225,000 http://www.blogger.com/in solid-waste penalties to Atlantic County; $230,000 for solid-waste tipping fees to the Cumberland County Improvement Authority; $77,470 for DEP solid-waste utility fees and penalties; $107,500 to Mullica Township for a tire lien; and nearly $3.6 million to Egg Harbor Township for fines accrued for building a garage without permits, according to Moore.

Olivo said the Mullica money is paid up, the amount owed to Egg Harbor Township is incorrect and a payment plan has been worked out for Atlantic County and the Cumberland County Improvement Authority.