For years he dumped. Now he’s been ordered to clean up his mess.

A state Superior Court judge in Morristown ordered Monday that Joseph Wallace — the man who spent years building a seven-story-tall mountain of dirt and debris on his property in a quiet residential neighborhood in Vernon Township — to halt work and remediate the site.

Citing “clear and convincing evidence of irreparable harm,” Judge Maritza Berdote Byrne ordered Wallace to immediately halt the importation of all material to his property, turn over information about what exactly is in the pile and clean up any material that is considered solid waste.

“Our efforts to tackle the 75-foot soil pile in Vernon are part of our overall commitment to dropping the hammer on polluters across the state," New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said. "Today, we welcome the court order prohibiting the owner from receiving new material, and requiring the owner to test the site and remove all solid waste materials on that property. This is a positive step for the state and the residents of Vernon.”

Since at least 2011, Wallace has had dump trucks bringing material from mostly unknown sources to his property on Silver Spruce Drive, a private road in a quiet residential neighborhood. NJ Advance Media detailed the activity in an in-depth report published in February.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection took Wallace to court after determining in February that he used his property to run an illegal solid waste facility. A consent order with Wallace allowed state officials to come onto the property and test the pile in March.

Results of that testing, released in April, showed the pile to contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs,) polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the pesticide chemical chlordane all at levels above the state’s standard for residential soil.

PAHs are classified as probable human carcinogens, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. PCBs are also linked cancer, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as well as pregnancy complications and other health effects. Exposure to chlordane, according to the CDC, can have a variety of effects on the human nervous system.

Under the new court order, Wallace must do the following:

Within 10 days, provide the NJDEP with information about all the material he has brought onto his property since 2009.

Within 60 days, determine what in the pile is considered solid waste, give the NJDEP a cost estimate for removing that waste, place funds in escrow to pay for that waste removal, create and implement a soil erosion plan for the property and apply for a stormwater permit.

Within 120 days, remove and properly dispose of any solid waste material on the property.

Wallace had been scheduled to appear in court last week, but that was cancelled after he and his lawyer failed to file timely opposition. Byrne instead decided the case without an oral argument.

Jeffrey Patti, Wallace’s lawyer, said he will be filing a motion to stay the enforcement action of this order until the conclusion of the state’s case against his client. Patti also said he will request that the state’s case be put on hold until a second case, involving dozens of municipal violations related to Wallace’s pile, is resolved.

“Our position was, and is, the matter should be stayed pending the outcome of the municipal court matters,” Patti said.

Vernon Mayor Harry Shortway praised the court’s decision and pushed the state lawmakers to act on proposed legislation designed to prevent situations like this from occurring in the future.

“This is a victory for Vernon Township in our efforts to protect our residents, environment and water sources,” Shortway said. “But it is only another step in ending the greed of dirty dirt brokers and their affiliates at the expense of the residents living in rural New Jersey. We must continue our efforts to stop these unscrupulous activities by making such behavior criminal.”

Town demands resignation

The new court order comes just days after the Vernon Township Council passed a resolution calling for the resignation of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Catherine McCabe. The resolution was amended by the council just before voting to also call for the resignations of Mike Hastry, the NJDEP’s head of solid waste enforcement, and Kerry Pflugh, the NJDEP’s director of local government assistance according to the New Jersey Herald.

The resolution blames the NJDEP for allowing Wallace to continue dumping on his property despite being aware of the situation. Complaints about Wallace’s actions at the Silver Spruce property date back to 2009. McCabe became the head of the NJDEP in January 2018.

Read Byrne’s full decision against Wallace below:

Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MSolDub. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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