Diane Valden is reporting in the Columbia Paper State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office has taken action in state Supreme Court in Columbia County against Copake property owner Salvatore Cascino [CASH-eenoh] over allegations that he is in violation of a 2007 Department of Environmental Conservation consent decree. Cascino is a serial scofflaw with a 17-year history of violations of federal, state and town laws for illegal dumping, building and excavating. Cascino was found guilty of both civil and criminal contempt in 2009. He also pleaded guilty to one count of felony second degree offering a false instrument on behalf of his corporations as part of a plea deal in Albany County Supreme Court in June 2012. The consent decree came about after the DEC found violations of wetlands, stream protection, storm water permitting and solid waste laws stemming from Cascino’s construction and dumping activities on his 300-acre property along the east side of State Route 22, called Copake Valley Farm. In the most recent filing, the attorney general's office has asked the court find Cascino guilty of both civil and criminal contempt, alleging he has continued to use a bridge on the property to allow the dumping of waste material by truck in violation of the DEC consent decree. Cascino is scheduled to answer the charges August 21, before Acting State Supreme Court Judge Jonathan Nichols in Columbia County. Read the full story in the Columbia Paper.