United States v. Yetim

251 F. Supp. 3d 461
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedApril 20, 2017
DocketNo 14-CV-847 (JFB) (SIL)
StatusPublished

This text of 251 F. Supp. 3d 461 (United States v. Yetim) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Yetim, 251 F. Supp. 3d 461 (E.D.N.Y. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Joseph F. Bianco, District Judge:

Plaintiff the United States of America (the “government”) filed a complaint on February 7, 2014 alleging violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”), 42 U.S.C. § 6991e, and its implementing regulations by two individual defendants—Nedjet Yetim (“Yetim”) and his daughter Rachelann Yetim—and several corporate entities. (ECF No. 1.) The government has now moved for partial summary judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 against Yetim and his companies ASLI & Gizem Realty Corp. (“ASLI”) and Target Petroleum, Inc. (“Target”) (collectively, “defendants”).1

Specifically, the government seeks an award of monetary damages and injunctive relief against defendants in connection with RCRA violations concerning underground petroleum storage tanks at a gasoline station located at 1278 Hempstead Turnpike, Elmont, New York (the “1278 Facility”). In response, defendants do not dispute the violations alleged by the government; instead, they argue that (1) the $850,300 penalty sought by the government is excessive and unduly punitive, and (2) an injunction requiring defendant Ye-tim to comply with RCRA and its regulations is unnecessary because he is no longer in the business of operating gasoline stations.

For the reasons set forth below, the government’s motion for partial summary judgment is granted as to liability, and the Court enjoins defendants from future violations of RCRA and the regulations promulgated thereunder. However, the Court believes an evidentiary hearing is neces[463]*463sary to determine an appropriate- monetary penalty against defendants. ■ •

I. Background

A. Facts

The following facts are taken from the parties’ Rule 56.1 statements (“Govt.’s 56.1,” EOF No. 54; “Defs.’ 56.1,,* ECF No. 56), as well as the parties’ affidavits and exhibits. Unless otherwise hotéd-, the facts are either undisputed or uncontroverted by admissible evidence. Because defendants do not dispute that they committed the RCRA violations at issue, the Court will summarize only those facts that pertain to the relief sought by the government. Upon consideration of the motion for partial summary judgment, the Court will construe the facts in the light most favorable to defendants as the nonmoving party,. and it will resolve all factual ambiguities in their favor. See Capobianco v. New York, 422 F.3d 47, 50 n.1 (2d Cir. 2005).

1. Yetim’s History

Defendant Yetim has been involved in some capacity with approximately 150 gasoline stations and has owned three or four stations at various points in time, but he has never had any training relating to underground petroleum storage tanks (“USTs”) or their relevant' regulations. (Govt.’s 56.1 ¶4.) Over the years,.Yetim has set up approximately twenty different corporations to own or operate the gasoline stations with which he has been involved, including defendants ASLI and Target. (Id. ¶¶ 5-7.)

■ Yetim has been arrested several times in connection with his ownership or operation of gasoline stations on Long Island, and he spent three years in prison on a New York state grand larceny charge relating to his gasoline station business. (Id. ¶ 2.) He was also convicted of endangering the -public welfare due to a UST that was leaking petroleum into the , ground at a gasoline station that he owned. (Id. ¶ 3.) Specifically, in or around October 2009, the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office charged Yetim with- ■ Endangering Public Health, Safety or the Environment in the Third Degree and Knowingly Violating a Final Administrative Order, both felonies, in connection with his ownership and operation of a gasoline station at 653 Hempstead Turnpike. (Id. ¶ 24.) Yetim and one of his corporate entities ultimately pled guilty in that matter. (Id. ¶ 28.)

2. The 1278 Facility

■ For many years, Yetim—individually and through his various corporate entities—was the owner and operator of UST systems at the 1278 Facility until the end of 2013. (Id. ¶ 8.) The 1278 Facility is- a gasoline station and maintenance center located within the boundaries of a federally-designated Sole Source Aquifer, which supplies at least fifty percent of the drinking water consumed within the aquifer’s boundaries. (Id. ¶ 16.)-From at least 1999 to 2013, Yetim managed* directed, or conducted decisions about environmental compliance- at the 1278 Facility, and during that time, he Was the primary point of contact- for the New York State Department of Environmental ■ Conservation (“NYSDEC”) and,the United States Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”) regarding day-to-day operations at the 1278 Facility. (M ¶¶. 17-18.)

Prior to the summer of 2011,- the 1278 Facility had three active, 4,000-gallon USTs. (Id. ¶23.) Since 1999, there have been .at least eight reported petroleum releases from the USTs at the 1278 Facility, one of which resulted in NYSDEG installing a groundwater remediation ■ system. (Id. ¶ 19.) With’ respect to one of those releases, NYSDEC informed Yetim that there had- been a leak from a UST-. at the [464]*4641278 Facility and that he was required to clean up the property. (Id. ¶20.) He responded that he did not have the money to do so, and as a result, NYSDEC entered the property and cleaned the spill. (Id. ¶ 21.)

From at least 2009 until 2013, EPA personnel repeatedly informed Yetim about regulatory violations concerning USTs at the 1278 Facility, but he failed to remedy them. (Id. ¶ 30.) Specifically, the EPA conducted three separate inspections of the 1278 Facility on July 8, 2009; July 27, 2011; and January 31, 2013. (Id. ¶ 31.) During the initial inspection in July 2009, EPA Environmental Engineer Paul Sacker (“Sacker”) observed corrosion on fiberglass-reinforced plastic piping connected to some metallic components, indicating that the metallic piping components had not been upgraded with adequate cathodic protection as required by regulation. (Id. ¶ 32.) Sacker also noted that the regular fill pipe in one of the USTs had no overfill protection and that the 1278 Facility did not employ adequate methods to detect the release of petroleum from its USTs, safeguards that were also legally-mandated. (Id. ¶¶ 33-35.) Sacker then spoke with Ye-tim regarding those regulatory infractions, but Yetim was hostile and refused to answer any of his questions. (Id. ¶ 36.)

On September 8, 2009, the EPA sent Yetim an Information Request Letter (“IRL”) identifying the UST regulatory violations observed during the July 8, 2009 inspection and seeking information about the owners and operators of the USTs; the overfill, spill, and cathodic protections for the USTs; release detection for the USTs and the underground piping; and information on any USTs that may have been closed. (Id. ¶ 37.) After multiple attempts at delivery to Yetim’s business addresses, Yetim eventually accepted the IRL at his home address on December 9, 2009, but he thereafter told the EPA that he had lost the IRL and requested another copy.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.
477 U.S. 242 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Tull v. United States
481 U.S. 412 (Supreme Court, 1987)
United States v. Ekco Housewares, Inc.
62 F.3d 806 (Sixth Circuit, 1995)
Huminski v. Corsones
396 F.3d 53 (Second Circuit, 2005)
Gonzalez v. City of Schenectady
728 F.3d 149 (Second Circuit, 2013)
United States v. M. Genzale Plating, Inc.
807 F. Supp. 937 (E.D. New York, 1992)
United States v. DiPaolo
466 F. Supp. 2d 476 (S.D. New York, 2006)
Weyant v. Okst
101 F.3d 845 (Second Circuit, 1996)
Caldarola v. Calabrese
298 F.3d 156 (Second Circuit, 2002)
Amnesty America v. Town of West Hartford
361 F.3d 113 (Second Circuit, 2004)
Securities & Exchange Commission v. Contorinis
743 F.3d 296 (Second Circuit, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
251 F. Supp. 3d 461, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-yetim-nyed-2017.