MILFORD | Representatives of D'Addario Industries are appealing an order from the state Department of Environmental Protection to hook up water for four houses that are near their Oronoque Road landfill, or face its closure.
The appeal was filed Tuesday afternoon, the deadline for taking action.
The dump can continue to operate while the appeal is heard, DEP spokesman Matthew Fritz said.
Neither David D'Addario nor his attorney, Beth Barton, returned phone calls Tuesday.
Rep. James Amann, D-Milford, said he will call a meeting of the neighbors affected by the dump and will apply political pressure to have it closed or to force the D'Addarios to comply with the DEP's administrative order.
The order requires D'Addario to cover the dump with topsoil, file reports on the height of the landfill and begin hooking up the four closest houses to public water mains, or cease operations.
"We haven't had any contact from anyone with the company," said Robert Pooley, one of the homeowners promised a water hookup.
"It sounds like they are stalling," he said.
"I was told if they appeal, it could take two years to get the water, but if the DEP orders them to do it, then it could happen within weeks."
The next step is a pre-hearing conference between DEP officials and D'Addario representatives, Fritz said.
"If the matter isn't resolved there it would go to our adjudication division, which functions like an in-house court," he said.
Ultimately, if there is no compliance the matter would be sent on to the state attorney general's office for enforcement, officials said.
Amann, fuming at the news of the appeal, said he would also seek "a legislative solution to this problem. I know we've stopped landfills before. I'm not sure how it would work with one already operating, but I'm going to find out."
A DEP field inspector will be at the site today, said John England of the DEP's waste engineering and enforcement division.
The landfill operator filed a preliminary application in 1997 seeking to increase the height to 170 feet, making the landfill the tallest structure in Milford. The dump is now at least 68 feet, according to the permit.
State officials required D'Addario to purchase the groundwater rights to all the neighboring properties as part of that expansion, out of concern that the larger dump could contaminate the groundwater and reduce the value of those properties. That application is on hold.
