Victor Liotta
The owner of an Oceanside landscaping company has been accused of mixing mulch with hazardous waste and selling it to homeowners as “shredded hardwood” for use in gardens.
Victor Liotta was arrested and charged Monday with scheme to defraud, prohibited disposal of solid waste, operation of a solid waste management facility without a permit and misbranded or adulterated fertilizer. His company, Liotta Bros. Recycling Corporation, is facing identical charges.
Nassau County prosecutors said the 46-year-old man was selling bags of garden mulch that were mixed with unauthorized construction waste, even though the bags were marked “100% shredded hardwood.”
The bags were sold out of the company’s retail location, Island Hopper Landscape Supplies, on Long Beach Road in Island Park.
A New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) engineer discovered during a random spot-check last year that a sample of wood chips from the company.
The mulch contained amounts of wood that had been stained, chemically treated, or glued, and other construction and demolition debris, including plastic chips, floor tiles, rags, sheet metal and rubber, prosecutors said.
Liotta Bros. also runs a Solid Waste Management Facility on Daly Boulevard in Oceanside where solid waste is received, sorted, disposed and non-hazardous material is recycled.
Liotta will be arraigned Monday at First District Court in Hempstead. He faces four years in prison.
