GURBIR S. GREWAL
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF NEW JERSEY
Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex
25 Market Street

PO Box 093
Trenton, NJ 08625-0093
Attorney for Plaintiff
B y:

Matthew D. Knoblauch
Attorney ID: 201692016
Deputy Attorney General

(609) 376-2771
SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
CHANCERY DIVISION SUSSEX COUNTY
DOCKET N0.

NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION,
Plaintiff,
Civil Action

v.
JOSEPH WALLACE and LAURA
WALLACE,

VERIFIED COMPLAINT FOR
TEMPORARY AND PERMANENT
RESTRAINTS AND
OTHER APPROPRIATE RELIEF

Defendants.

Plaintiff,

State

of

New

Jersey,

Department

of

Environmental

Protection ("DEP" or ~~Department"), by way of Verified Complaint
against Joseph Wallace and Laura Wallace (~~Defendants"), owners of
Block 130, Lot 1.05, 3 Silver Spruce Drive, Vernon Township, Sussex
County, New Jersey, says:

 NATURE OF THE ACTION
1.

This action is brought pursuant to the Solid Waste Management
Act

(~~SWMA")

13:1E-1

N.J.S.A.

to

-48

as

well

as

the

regulations promulgated thereto, for temporary and permanent
restraints, damages, and civil penalties against Defendants
to enjoin continued violations of the SWMA, particularly the
ongoing importation of contaminated fill material.
2.

This action is also brought pursuant to the Highlands Water
Protection and Planning Act (~~Highlands Act") N.J.S.A. 13:201 to -35 as well as the regulations promulgated thereto, for
temporary restraints, damages, and civil penalties against
Defendants to enjoin continued violations of the Highlands
Act,

particularly

the

regarding

unpermitted

clearing,

the

Stormwater

grading, and excavation.
3.

This

action

is

also

brought

N.J.A.C.

Management

Rules

Discharge

Elimination

pursuant

7:8

System

and

New

Rules

to

Jersey
N.J.A.C.

Pollutant
7:14A,

promulgated pursuant to Water Pollution Control Act (~~WPCA")
N.J.S.A. 58:10A-1 to -48, for temporary restraints, damages,
and civil penalties, against Defendants to enjoin continued
violations of the

WPCA,

land use disturbance.

particularly regarding

unpermitted

 PARTIES

4.

The Department of Environmental Protection ("the Department"
is

or "DEP")

a

principal department of the State of New

Jersey and the agency charged with enforcement of the SWMA,
the Highlands Act, and the WPCA, with offices as 401 East
State Street in Trenton, New Jersey.
5.

Defendant

Joseph

and

owner

the

is

("Wallace")

Wallace

resident of Block 130, Lot 1.05, 3 Silver Spruce Drive, Vernon
Township, Sussex County, New Jersey (~~Wallace property").
6.

Defendant Laura Wallace is the wife of Joseph Wallace and the
owner of the Wallace property (collectively, "Defendants").
STATEMENT OF FACTS

Initial Discovery of Solid Waste
7.

On

February

certified
samples
Wallace

15,

h ydrocarbons

fill

material

had

levels

from

property

received

concluded

that

laboratory

taken

DEP

2019,

(~~PAHs")

lead

and

test
that

that
of

that

results
one

was

of

two

dumped

polycyclic
exceeded

from

on

a

soil
the

aromatic

residential

standards. (Certification of David Ongaro ~I 10, hereinafter
~~Ongaro

Cert.")

DEP

then

determined

that

Wallace

was

operating an unlicensed solid waste facility in violation of
N.J.A.C.

7:26-2.8(f)

and

issued

two

Notices

of

Violation

("NOV") on February 20, 2019 (one for operating the unlicensed
solid waste facility and the other for failure to permit entry

 to DEP inspectors on that day). Id. ~ 13. Soil contamination
b y PAH and lead has the potential to erode and deposit in
off-site areas and potentially harm the environment. Id. ~
11.
8.

These soil samples were taken on or about January 31, 2019,
when DEP was able to access some of the fill material that
had

rolled

to

a

neighboring

property

in

groups

of frozen

chunks of soil. (Ongaro Cert. ~ 5.) The neighboring property
owner called DEP to report that some of the fill material had
rolled onto his property. Ibid. DEP inspectors observed that
the frozen chunks of soil were of the same color, consistency,
and composition as the fill material deposited on the Wallace
property. Id. at 7. Using dedicated equipment, DEP inspectors
took samples of the frozen chunks of soil and sent two of
those samples to a certified laboratory for testing. Id. yI~I
S
Additional DEP Investigative and Enforcement Actions

9.

DEP's first substantial involvement with the Wallace property
came in response to a DEP hotline tip made on July 23, 2014,
DEP inspectors along with a representative from the Sussex
County Soil Conservation District (~~District") engaged in a
site inspection on August 6, 2014. (Certification of Rajendra
Gandhi

~I

4,

hereinafter "Gandhi

Cert.")

There,

inspectors

discovered a large quantity of fill material, approximately

 100 feet long by 150 feet wide and up to 50 feet deep, in a
pattern.

semi-circular
Paull

~

hereinafter "Paull

14,

of

(Certification

Id.;

Cert.")

The

Richard

T.

material

fill

consisted of soil mixed with concrete, stone, brick, wood,
plastic,

asphalt

and

pieces.

Wallace

to

claimed

have

documentation showing that the fill was clean but he failed
to produce it to the Department upon request. (Gandhi Cert.
~ 6.)
10.

After the August 6, 2014 site inspection, DEP inspectors were
concerned

that

Wallace

operating

was

an

unlicensed

solid

waste facility in violation of N.J.A.C. 7:26-2.8(f) but had
no determinative evidence to conclude so. (Gandhi Cert. ~ 6.)
DEP then issued a Warning Letter to Wallace that advised him
that

he

might

document the

be

the

violating

origin

and

SWMA

composition

and

advised

him

to

of the fill material.

Ibid.
11.

Thereafter,

DEP

continued

to

receive

tips

and

complaints

about ongoing violations of the SWMA on the Wallace property
from private citizens, Vernon Township officials, and other
entities.

(Farrell

Cert.

~~

5-8.)

Included

in

these

complaints was an advertisement purportedly offering to hire
truckers to take fill material from New York City to a dump
facility at ~~3 silver spruce drive Sussex nj." (Farrell Cert.

 Exhibit E.) Indeed, Wallace has been convicted of illegally
dumping solid waste elsewhere. Id.
12.

DEP inspectors engaged in approximately ten site inspections
between September 2015 and September 2018. (Farrell Cert. ~
5.)

Consistently, Wallace stated that he had documentation

verifying

the

of

cleanliness

fill

the

but

material

continually failed to produce it at DEP's request. (Gandhi
Cert.

6-7.)

~~

Based

solely

on

visual

assessments,

DEP

inspectors could not determine if the fill material was solid
waste. Id. ~ 4. DEP inspectors were unable to determine that
the material was solid waste until they collected a sample
for laboratory analysis. (Ongaro Cert, ~~ 5-13.)
13.

On or about January 19, 2019, Wallace advised DEP inspectors
that he would not permit any access to the Wallace property
without a search warrant. (Farrell Cert. ~ 10.)

14.

After the
that
and

January 19, 2019 denial of entry,

Wallace
the

had

violated the Stormwater Management Rules

Highlands

disturbance.

DEP suspected

(Paull

Act

by

exceeding

Cert. ~~ 7, 12.)

one

acre

of

land

Regarding stormwater

discharge under the WPCA, a 5G3 general "permit is required
for

any

stormwater

discharge

associated

with

a

small

construction activity, which is any `clearing, grading, and
excavating that result in land disturbance of equal to or
greater

than

one

acre

and

less than

five

acres."' (Paull

 Cert. ~ 5 (citing N.J.A.C. 7:14A-1.2, -6.13, -24.2).) This
simply

permit

for

that

requires

any

land

disturbance

exceeding one acre, but less than five acres, one must obtain
a permit to ensure that the stormwater runoff is managed.
15.

The Wallace property is situated in the Preservation Area of
the Highlands, and DEP approval is necessary for any ~~maj or
Highlands development" as defined in N.J.S.A. 13:20-3. This
definition includes ~~any non-residential development in the
preservation area" and

~~any residential development in the

preservation area that... results in the ultimate disturbance
of

one

acre

or

more

of

land

or

cumulative

a

increase

impervious surface by one-quarter acre or more...."
A

13:20-3.

site

inspection

is

necessary

to

in

N.J.S.A.

confirm

the

existence of this violation with specificity. N.J.S.A. 13:20-

District and Municipal Enforcement Actions
16.

After the initial site inspection on August 14, 2014, the
District

determined

that

Wallace

had

violated

the

Soil

Erosion and Sediment Control Act ("SESCA") N.J.S.A. 4:24-39
to -55 by disturbing an area in excess of 5,000 square feet
without

a

soil

erosion

and

sediment

control

plan.

Accordingly, the District issued a Stop Work Order on August
14,

2014

that

prohibited

Wallace

from

"importing

any

additional fill material" onto his property ~~until such time

 as a Soil Erosion and Sediment Control (SESC) Plan has been
submitted to and certified by the District." (Paull Cert. 9I
14.) Nonetheless, Wallace continued to dump fill material and
Vernon Township sought injunctive relief in Superior Court,
the

as

municipality

is

empowered

to

enforce

the

SESCA.

N.J.S.A. 4:24-53.
17.

The Superior Court denied the temporary restraining order on
July 11, 2018 and denied the preliminary injunction on August
10, 2018, reasoning that the Stop Work Order only applied to
a

particular 5,000 square foot area rather than the whole

parcel. (Certification of Matthew D. Knoblauch Exhibit B, 3739,

hereinafter

interlocutory

`~Knoblauch

review

in

Cert.")

the

Vernon

Appellate

Township

Division,

sought

which

was

denied. The permanent injunction hearing is scheduled for May
6, 2019.
18.

As a consequence of the court's decision, the District issued
a second Stop Work Order on August 23, 2018 with more explicit
language indicating what actions Wallace was prohibited from
taking. (Paull Cert. ~I 15.) Specifically, the Order required
Wallace

to

immediately
property.

(1)
stop

immediately
importing

stop
fill

(Paull Cert. Exhibit

material

B.)

ambiguity regarding what Wallace

construction
on

This Order

and

the

(2)

entire

removed

any

was prohibited from doing

pursuant to the determination of the District.

 COUNT 1
CONTINUED OPERATION OF AN UMPERITTED SOLID WASTE FACILITY IN
VIOLATION OF THE SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ACT
19.

Plaintiff incorporates

paragraphs

1 - 18

of this

Verified

Complaint as if fully set forth, herein.
20.

The Solid Waste Management Act ("SWMA") N.J.S.A. 13:1E-1 to
-48 provides that

~~ [n]o person shall begin construction or

operation of a solid waste facility without obtaining a SWF
[solid waste facility] Permit" subject to certain exceptions
not present here. N.J.A.C. 7:26-2.8(f).
21.

Defendants, without having first obtained a SWF permit, are
continuing to operate a solid waste facility by importing and
dumping potentially contaminated fill material on the Wallace
property,
soil

based

mixed

on

with

DEP

inspectors'

plastic,

visual

asphalt,

observations

concrete,

and

of

other

materials.
22.

Defendants

denied

January 19, 2019.

DEP

access

to

the

Wallace

property

on

 PRAYER FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE,

Plaintiff

respectfully

Order

an

requests

finding

Defendants Joseph Wallace and Laura Wallace jointly and severally
liable for violations of the SWMA N.J.S.A. 13:1E-1 to -48 as well
as the regulations promulgated thereto, on Block 130, Lot 1.05, 3
Silver Spruce Drive, Vernon Township, Sussex County, New Jersey as
described in Count 1 of the Verified Complaint.

Wherefore, pursuant to I~?.J.S.A.

13:1E-9, Plaintiff respectfully

requests the following relief from all Defendants:
a.

Immediately cease receiving any and all fill material

and/or solid waste onto the property at Block 130, Lot 1.05,
also known as 3 Silver Spruce Drive, Vernon, New Jersey (the
~~site");
b. Immediately provide access by NJDEP and/or individuals on
behalf of the Department to delineate the area of disturbance
and extent of the fill material brought onto the site, to
perform any sampling of the material on site, and/or perform
any other inspections of the property as the Department deems
necessary to determine compliance with the SWMA, the WPCA,
and the Highlands Act;
c.

Within

determine

thirty
if

it

days,
meets

characterize
the

all fill

definition

of

material to

solid

waste

as

 defined at N. J.A. C. 7:26-1. 6 and provide NJDEP an estimate
for the cost of removal of the solid waste;
d.

Within

accordance

ninety
with

days,

remove

applicable

New

and

properly

Jersey

dispose

laws)

of

all

(in
fill

material which meets the definition of solid waste on the
site;
e.

Within

10

documentation

days,

provide

setting

forth

NJDEP
the

with

source

full
and

and

complete

nature

of the

material brought onto the site since 2009, including but not
limited to all analytical results, receipts, bills of lading,
and identification of all transporting haulers;
f. Within 45 days, place sufficient funds into escrow or an
attorney trust account, to be identified by this Court, to
guarantee adequate funds for removal of the solid waste onsite.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests that the Court grant
penalties as the Court deems just and proper pursuant to N.J.S.A.
13:1E-9, N.J.S.A. 13:20-28, and N.J.S.A.58:10A-10.

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests that the Court order
any additional relief that the Court may deem just and equitable.

 CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO R.4:5-1
I am designated trial counsel. This matter is not the subject of
any other litigation. I am not aware that any further litigation
is contemplated. I am not aware of any other parties that should
be joined. I certify that confidential personal identifiers have
been redacted from documents now submitted to the court, and
will be redacted from all documents submitted in the future in
accordance with Rule 1:38-7(b).

hew D. Knoblauch
M
Deputy Attorney General

Dated:

2 ~2 -~U~~

 VERIFICATION
Richelle Wormley, by way of certification, states that:
1.
I am Assistant Commissioner, Compliance and Enforcement,
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in the above
captioned matter.
2.
I have read the Verified Complaint.
I certify that all factual allegations contained herein are
3.
correct.
and
true
4.
I am aware that if the foregoing statements made by me are
willfully false, I may be subject to punishment.

Richelle Wormley
Assistant Commissioner