Horse Training Facility Dumps Fill Into Wetlands: Feds

WALKILL, NY — An Orange County horse training facility was accused of illegally filling in wetlands.

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Thursday that a civil lawsuit was filed against Thomas Pushkal, Jennifer Vanover, Edward Pushkal, Frances Pushkal and Maplewood Warmbloods LLC for filling wetlands in Orange County that are protected by the federal Clean Water Act.

The lawsuit is asking the court to award injunctive relief and civil penalties for the violations.

Williams said the defendants violated the Clean Water Act by discharging concrete, metal, glass and other fill material into wetlands that are part of the waters of the United States.

“This lawsuit will hold the defendants accountable for allegedly violating our environmental laws and require them to remedy the alleged significant damage they have caused to protected wetlands,” he said.

EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia said that wetlands serve a vital role in decreasing water pollution, providing habitat for fish and wildlife and reducing risks from flooding and storm surges.

“Unlawful and unmitigated dredging and filling activities can destroy wetlands,” she said. “EPA will continue to protect these vulnerable ecosystems and fight for the health of wetlands by enforcing the law under the Clean Water Act.”

Prosecutors said, from 2015 to 2019, Thomas Pushkal, Vanover and their business Maplewood Warmbloods LLC discharged fill material without a federal permit into about 3.5 acres of wetlands, referred to as the Bart Bull Road Site and Expansion Site.

The discharges were made in the course of operating and expanding their horse breeding, boarding and training facility in the town of Wallkill.

Authorities said horse facility personnel allowed material to be trucked in and deposited at the site from June 2015 to March 2016, using heavy machinery to spread the material around and raise the grade of the property.

At the end of November 2018, the EPA learned of the activity and, in December 2018, cautioned Thomas Pushkal by phone that he would need a federal permit if he was filling protected wetlands on any additional properties.

In spite of the warning, from December 2018 to April 2019, dump trucks and other heavy machinery engaged in extensive earthmoving, grading and filling to construct private access roads through the Expansion Site.

The roads caused fill to be discharged into 1.5 acres of wetlands, federal officials said.

Some of the wetlands at the expansion site are on property owned by Edward Pushkal and Frances Pushkal, who knew or should have known of, but failed to prevent, the discharges, authorities said.

Government officials said the wetlands are adjacent to the Wallkill River, a traditional navigable waterway.

The fill material dumped into the wetlands included, among other things, dirt, rock, brick, wood, electrical wiring, ceramic, asphalt, concrete, rebar, PVC piping, metal and glass, the government said.