3311 Main Street, Hartford, Toxic Waste Dump?
This is in regards to a property at 3311 Main Street in Hartford. The property is owned by a Limited Liability Corporation or LLC. LLC's are typically used by small businesses who don't want to incorporate as a full blown corporation. LLC"s are also used when someone doesn't necessarily want a property or business showing up in their own name. Luckily, the Connecticut Secretary of the State has most records available on-line through "Concord", so ownership of LLC's are relatively easy to track.
The information regarding 3311 was that there were 3 10,000 gallon underground storage tanks still buried on the property. The tanks were allegedly leaking gasoline into the ground. Apparently as part of the MDC Clean Waters Project the contamination was found through test boring's and soil tests.
Sources familiar with the tests have confirmed that large quantities of "volatile organic compounds", in layman's terms, gasoline, had leeched into the soil and may possibly extend under the intersection of Main Street and Tower Avenue. The property owner was notified and no action was taken to remediate the chemicals or the environmental hazard.
The reason for a Grand Jury might be what happened next. Although both Federal and State law mandates the reporting of toxic spills and hazardous environmental conditions, the Connecticut DEEP has no record of ever being notified of the contamination by MDC or the City of Hartford.
The City of Hartford Fire Department as well as the planning Department were apparently notified of the spills and may have actually received the MDC's documentation and reports.
Sources have also confirmed that the two MDC employees responsible for the test borings and the contamination reports have now "lawyered up". The MDC apparently stopped further excavation on or near 3311 Main when the contamination was found
Sources have confirmed the existence of the report in the Hartford Fire Marshall's Office as well as the Hartford Planning Department. Hartford's Department License and Inspections has no records of any permits or any knowledge of the tanks or the leakage.
An FOI request to the City of Hartford for the documents is pending. A request to the MDC for their test borings and reports has apparently been farmed out to an outside law firm immediately after I made my request. That should raise some red flags that a routine request for documents had to go to an outside law firm, even though the MDC has its own internal legal department. May they be hiding something?
Another red flag that should go up when you ask why neither the MDC or the City of Hartford notified the DEEP as apparently required by law. As you can see from the CONCORD document below, 3311 Main LLC is no other than the fiancee' of Hartford's acting Chief Operating Officer Saundra Kee-Borges, Hartford Deputy Fire Chief Terry Waller. Waller, as a Deputy Chief knows that even at an accident scene any spill, even a gallon of antifreeze is to be reported to the DEEP.
A spill from the contents of 3 10,000 gallon gas tanks is not something to be overlooked, the big question now is why and who ordered the cone of silence over Waller's Toxic Dump. A grand Jury could probably answer that better than I ever could, but I have some ideas. An investigation by the State of Connecticut DEEP Is apparently moving forward, can the State's Attorney be far behind?
We need to know why the rules weren't followed and who orchestrated what appears to be a cover up of a serious hazardous condition. Is this toxic condition in any way endangering the residents of North Main Street. The taxpayers should not be put on the hook for this cleanup. And why hasn't the MDC stepped forward on this? We expect them to be responsible stewards of our environment by following the law, not being co-conspirators allowing toxic chemicals to flow under our streets after they find them.
Much more to come on this I am sure.
14 comments:
The questions that I have for the City of Hartford is;
1. Why were no annual inspections done of the property and tanks,that were required by law?
2. Why didnt the Fire Marshall call the DEEP and complain about the leak of the hazerdous material out onto Tower and Main Street ?
3. Does the leak onto Tower and Main Street endanger the lives of the residents there?
4. Why didnt the City notify the DEEP about the discharge of hazardous waste ?
5. Why didnt the MDC notify the DEEP as it should have by law ?
6. Did anyone working for the City use their position to let Mr Waller skate into the property without the necessity of ontaining permits?
7. Did anyone at CityHall intercede and stop the Fire Marshall or firestaff from reporting the leakage to the DEEP ?
8. Did anyone at cityhall intercede with the MDC and stop them from reporting the leakage to the DEEP?
9. Who at city hall knew the system enough and had an interest in blocking the reporting og the leakage to the DEEP ?
10. Because of the above, are the residents of the area on Main and Tower in danger because of the leakage?
Diogenes,
I think we are thinking along the same lines here, but I can't answer those questions, I think law enforcement may have to get the answers for you
Kevin,
These guys are making Eddie Perez look good. How much longer will this corruption be allowed to go on, At least Eddie never endangered lives by allowing toxic waste to build up underground. And for a high ranking Fire Official to play stupid is inexcusable.
Pedro must go, wiil he suffer the fate of our last mayor and leave after his conviction?
Waller bought his house on terry rd from SBK in a short sale. is that allowed?
You know for sure that deadbeat loser terry will slime his way out of this situation. He will claim lack of on scene evaluation that mdc is to blame for. So it will make waller look like a marter to get the chief spot. If that indeed happens our useless union will fold. What a mess it is here. I watched the movie backdraft and joined hfd because of that movie thinking the job was like that. And tac unit fitness evals should be mandatory every three monthes. If the citizens only knew.
It could be that at the time when the Fire Marshall reported this hazerdous issue, the City for some reason has covered it up. I would be interesting to find out ,since COO's fiancee bought this property, if MS Saundra Borges could be involved in the cover up of the property issue. I would be interesting to also know who was the attorney behind the property's closing . If this was donde by Borges then obviously there is another seroius violation to add to the list.
Wow, this seems like a modern version of Bonnie and Clyde... A couple who got together to do all kind of trickery and crimes.
Eddie Perez had more class than these corrupted attorneys. There are so many "irregularities”, things are totally out of the norm. We definitely need a Federal investigation.
Feel sorry for Pedro who has trusted a corrupted colleague.
Will this circus side show called the City of Hartford ever end ? If the people only knew ? Only 1 percent come out and vote ! Corruption is in plain site and nobody does anything about it. They break their own rules but nobody cares. Terry Waller is only out to serve Terry Waller. He will use whatever tactics, backstab and lie about other people and obviously use whatever power and influence that SKB has to push his way into the administration of the fire department. This man has not the education or the experience to lead a cub scout pack on a hiking trail.The sad thing is that the influence from city hall will put him in just that position. If you think the City of Hartford has zero respect from the state and even its own pathetic non-voting citizens......wait until they have the blood of dead firemen on their hands......the legacy of Terry Waller.
These allegations are pretty serious, is the shop still open for business? And, are his employee’s health being jeopardized by all the toxic chemicals? Was DC Waller in fact aware of the tanks being underground when he purchased the property? Something doesn’t sound right, and it may be grounds for a law suit, if the info was with held. It appears that he has been misinformed and misguided. He should be thanking his fiancée Chief Operating Officer Attorney Borges for misrepresenting him on this purchase. Despite that she will deny any involvement, she will not forward any documents that will incriminate her cover up. At the end, DC Waller will not be held accountable and he will evidentially still get his promotion. It is sad that the corruption in City Hall will continue on, with no repercussion what so ever.
I am not really sure how the information could have been with held by the seller. It was a former gas station, look at the building, it was clearly a gas station. Wouldn't that be the first thing a smart buyer would ask "is there any contamination on the property?"
L & I would have records if the tanks are still there or not, if the tanks are removed, it is the office of L&I that goes out there first, if there are problems, then they are to call the FMO, after that if there is a problem, all records go to the SFMO.
Despite after this discovery, it appears that the leakage doesn't seem to be effecting the business; they are still open as usual. I would think that the DEEP, the Health Department or whomever is in charge of over seen this site; that they would have shut down the business until the matter is taken care of. His employees are still working under these conditions, probably not known what has transpired.
Kevin, one of the commenters stated that Waller bought the property in a short sale from SKB. They also questioned the legality of that (I'm guessing possibly from the 'roommate' status). Have you been able to verify this? Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't short sales done to avoid bankruptcy? I'm guessing that if SKB can't manage her own finances that might be why Hartford and Bloomfield have no interest in putting her in a permanent management position.
Anonymous: July 31, 2013 at 2:59 AM
Very Interesting that people are questioning the legality of the Terry Rd purchase.It just doesn't sound legit. SKB, the high ranking city COO attorney who 's earning is over $230,000, could not manage to keep her property afloat, and is definitely not doing a good job keeping our City Ship afloat, Hartford is in big trouble. She's been in more controversy since she came on board, she is better known for working illegally, double dipping, slippery nipple,caviar feast, and using the city for her own personal employment service, promoting her fiancee, her wrong doing list is longer then then what's shes done for our City.
Sandy and Terry's partnership are stirring up quite a few controversy. Starting with the Terry Rd, 3311 Main, Park and the Russ St properties. There's a new trend in the housing business call flipping, buy cheap, sell later, make big profits.It appears that COO Sandy and DC Waller are concentrating in the housing monopoly..
As for being rejected twice that's nothing to rise eyebrows about, as the only one who thinks that she is so efficient are the two blind mice her partner DC Waller and the Mayor. She came on board because her own business was failing, and because of her poor leadership, our City is also failing. COO doesn't understand that her days are over. It is possible that she was rejected due to her credit history. Companies are using credit reports to whined out employees which can be a liability in high paying positions involving budgets of that magnitude.
And to answer the question on Short Sales,they are done to avoid foreclosures, when they don't qualify for a loan modifications, in some cases, the home are sold for less then what they owe. It leaves the seller with a shorter period of penalty, two years as apposed to a ten year foreclosure penalty. After two years you can repurchase a home. On a Short Sale you cannot sell to family members, friends or business acquaintances. In most instants, banks are asking that a arms length affidavit be signed to prevent possible mortgage fraud. Banks do not want the sellers to profit. SKB transaction appears bogus. It is sad that many Hartford homeowners haven't been so lucky, many have lost their homes to foreclosure.
If the State Attorney's Office or the Federal Investigation Bureau were to take a look into this purchase, I'm sure that they will fine it suspicious, just like the readers, and if the arms length affidavit was violated, they could be held liable for mortgage fraud. Especially,if they were to look at their recent history that has been transpiring, I'm sure that they may find probable cause. SKB, remains living on the property, she has confirm that DC Waller is her fiancee/partner and they have a client/attorney relationship, doesn't sound right. Not a well thought out plan. Mortgage fraud is punishable at the federal level and her attorney's license could be revoked.
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