On July 25, a subject paid a penalty of more than $25,000 for violations related to the illegal excavation of protected waterbodies in Greene County.
On Aug. 22, 2022, ECOs Lucas Palmateer and Jason Smith first responded to complaints regarding a stream disturbance in the town of Catskill. The Officers interviewed a complainant who provided a description of a truck observed transporting the excavated material and where the material was being delivered.
Investigators Paul Sherman and Joshua Sulkey then conducted follow-up interviews with a nearby homeowner who received fill material resembling the stream bed sediment, and additional residents who revealed the same individual excavated several protected streams in the area.
Investigator Sulkey also obtained a receipt and video footage documenting the suspected individual selling the streambed material to a homeowner.
Lieutenant Nichols, Investigator Sulkey, and DEC employees visited the affected waterbodies and gathered further evidence, including measurements and photographs documenting the extent of the excavations.
The subject was issued a Notice of Violation based on those findings for violating State regulations and the Environmental Conservation Law, including the disturbance of a protected stream, excavating navigable waters, and grading or dredging within a 100-foot buffer zone of a freshwater wetland.
In July 2025, an Order on Consent was signed and the subject was assessed a civil penalty of $26,625 for the violations.
Read more Environmental Conservation Investigations.
Photo of streambed excavation area provided by DEC.
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