District Attorneys rarely exercise their authority to prosecute environmental crimes, such as illegal dumping

Environmental crimes are serious threats to the protection of public health and the environment. Examples of environmental crimes include illegal pollution, trade in endangered species, and improper waste disposal. Along with the law firm of Schulte, Roth, and Zabel (SRZ), NYLCV Education Fund has looked into whether environmental crimes could legally be prosecuted by District Attorneys (DAs).

The 2008 case People v. Quadrozzi answered this question. The People and Basil Seggos, an investigator with Riverkeeper, contended that Quality Concrete of New York was releasing wastewater runoff into Newtown Creek in violation of the Clean Water Act. Constantine Quadrozzi was the Vice President of Quality Concrete of New York, and its chief environmental compliance officer. The Kings County DA initiated a criminal prosecution against Quality Concrete, without first obtaining authorization from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). After an appeal, the Supreme Court found that under an article of the Environmental Conservation Law, a DA has the authority to prosecute environmental crimes without needing advanced approval from either the DEC or the Attorney General (AG).

Despite this, DAs in New York rarely exercise this power, and most counties do not have permanent staff dedicated to prosecuting environmental crimes. Minor environmental crimes are handled by staff from other departments, and major crimes are passed on to the DEC and AG. Only Suffolk, Westchester, and Kings Counties are considerably active in prosecuting environmental crimes. For example, from 2003-2007, the DA in Westchester County investigated 590 environmental crimes through its Environmental Crimes Bureau. However, even in these counties, the level of enforcement varies and prosecutions are often pursued working in conjunction with DEC.

There have also been efforts by multi-agency operations to investigate environmental crimes, including the Brooklyn Environmental Crimes Unit's partnership with Riverkeeper and several other agencies to remove abandoned vessels from New York Harbor and prosecute harbor polluters.

NYLCVEF hopes that the ruling of People v. Quadrozzi will in time encourage more DAs to exercise their authority to prosecute environmental crimes.