A Muttontown man pleaded guilty on Aug. 20 to illegally releasing toxic chemicals into the ground at his business located just yards away from a Glen Cove waterway that leads into Long Island Sound.
John Doxey, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of Endangering Public Health, Safety or the Environment before Acting County Court Judge Francis Ricigliano.
Doxey was also sentenced to a conditional discharge with an agreement that he will finish the clean-up of his Glen Cove property under the supervision of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said her office pursued the case to make sure Doxey “would be held accountable for his crimes, and to ensure that he would bear the full cost of the cleanup.”
Doxey was arrested by DA investigators in May 2012 and charged with illegally releasing thousands of gallons of toxic automotive fluids into the ground of his salvage yard located at 4 Park Place in Glen Cove, just south of the Glen Cove waterway.
State law requires that fluids like gasoline, motor oil, and transmission fluid be drained and property stored for disposal before disassembling vehicles.
Doxey paid a $25,000 civil penalty toward the cleanup to the Department of Environmental Conservation in July 2014.
