A Vineyard Haven septic tank tug was fined $ 500 and suspended for 15 days after the Edgartown Board of Health was shown evidence that the company pumped waste back into a residential septic tank following a legal battle .
Troy and Trevor Maciel of Maciel and Sons, Inc. received a call outside the board of directors late Wednesday afternoon. Health Officer Matt Poole told board members that it was undisputed that the pump back operation occurred and that it was up to the board of directors to determine what the consequences would be. Poole said the act was in violation of state law.
“This is something that cannot happen again in Edgartown,” he said.
As The Times previously reported On April 6, Edgartown Police Officer Zachary Townes responded to a report of suspicious activity on Mill Hill Road. According to police reports, Townes encountered a Maciel and Sons septic tank with a hose that was being led into an open septic tank at 18 Mill Hill Road.
Officer Townes called the property owners, Karen L. Bruno and Dr. Nicholas Bruno, and Karen allegedly said she and her husband had “problems” with Maciel and Sons and did not want them on their property. When speaking with Trevor Maciel, the officer allegedly told Townes about the disagreement.
“Maciel stated that he had returned [the property] To pump wastewater back into the Brunos septic tanks, ”it says in a report. “I ordered Maciel to stop pumping and stated that if he felt he owed money, he could go to civil court. Maciel stopped pumping and said he understood. “
Poole told the board that his office became aware of septic matters when the Brunos reached for the septic records of their property and for help in understanding aspects of the bill they had received from Maciel and Sons for pumping and other septic work .
Poole said a phone call came in on April 6th that “Maceil and sons had returned to the property and.. [were] on the verge of emptying the contents of your sewage truck back into the on-site sewage treatment plant. “
Poole said he “immediately” called Troy Maciel and left a voicemail “to let him know that I knew of his intention to empty the septum back into the system”.
Maciel called Poole back “very quickly” and Poole said during their conversation that he had asked Maciel several times not to pump a septum back into the Brunos system. Poole informed him that such an act would “endanger” the permission of his city-based freight forwarder.
Poole said both he and Maciel were “quite animated” during their conversation. Ultimately, Poole said that Maciel had informed him that the deed was “done”.
Troy and Trevor Maciel told the board at various points during the meeting that their company had done a lot of work for the Brunos on short notice, including clearing a pipe blockage that could have lodged in their basement. In addition to the pumping work, the company cleaned and treated parts of the system. They said the system was overcrowded – over its pipes and in desperate need of an expression.
Karen Bruno said the bill’s mystery was a problem from the start.
“We really couldn’t get an explanation for the work done, why it was done, what Trevor found,” she told the board. “We literally had no communication with Trevor or Troy until this meeting.”
Dr. Nicholas Bruno told the board that a “paper jam” in his understanding does not necessarily have to be translated into all of Maciel and Sons’ other work. He described the return of waste to the system as vandalism. And because Maciel and Sons had been found to have disposed of the waste they originally pumped out, where he asked, the waste they pumped back into the system came from.
The Times asked the same question during the meeting.
Poole described what was reintroduced into the Brunos system as “Martha’s Vineyard-Origin Septage”. He went on to say that he felt it was “high, high, high,” that it was unlikely that waste would be transported to the vineyard, and that there was no evidence that it was restaurant waste, “the waste with the highest strength that we have here “, but household waste.
Edgartown Police Chief Bruce Macnamee told the board that his department had forwarded the police report to the Cape and Isles Prosecutor’s Office and it was found that the violations were not criminal offenses.
Troy Maciel criticized health assistant Janet Hathaway for his alleged behavior, which led to disagreements over the bill.
“It is inappropriate and wrong to put the septum back into a sewer system,” said Dr. Garret Orazem, member of the health committee. “We must try to make it clear that this was wrong and that no one else should ever consider doing this again in Edgartown City.”
The board eventually voted unanimously to order a 15-day suspension of Maciel and Sons’ septic approval in Edgartown and to impose a $ 500 fine on the company. The suspension ruled out the company’s porta potty business, which was deemed essential for construction sites.
Poole said Maciel and Sons will be informed of the board’s decision and the company can request a formal board hearing to appeal the decision.
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