Both The Columbia Paper and the great crime reporter Andrew Amelinckx of the Register-Star have stories today on the first day of the trial of Salvatore Cascino and Bronx County Recycling, LLC on charges of illegally dumping tires, fiberglass insulation, vinyl siding, pipes, electrical wire, asphalt shingles, car parts, plastic tubing, scrap metal and other unprocessed debris. Cascino's trial got underway at the Columbia County Courthouse Monday, December 6, with jury selection and resumed Wednesday, December 8 with opening statements from both sides on two misdemeanor counts of violating state Environmental Conservation Law. This case is separate from actions against Cascino, age 70, for dumping on his Copake Valley Farm property in Copake, where he has been in conflict with local and state authorities for years. The indictment in the case now being tried alleges that between December 31, 2007 and July 1, 2009, Cascino and his company “recklessly disposed of more than 70 cubic yards of solid waste and petroleum” at a site in Clermont on Route 9G, diagonally across from Firehouse Road. The site is now owned by William Cole, who bought it in 2005, but it is known locally as the former LaMunyan dump, which Cascino's defense attorney, Dennis Schlenker, brought up in his opening remarks.

“What is this case really about?” asked the State's Assistant Attorney General, James Woods. “It’s about convenience and greed.”

According to Schlenker, his client was “suffering the sins of the fathers who polluted the site.” The defense will try and prove that local municipalities used the site, over recent decades, for their own dumping purposes, as well.

Expect this one to get interesting, with original WGXC reportage coming.

For today's stories, click here or here.