Crown Recycling fire ‘non-criminal in nature’ Suffolk Police arson investigators find

The cause of the June 4 fire that destroyed the Crown Recycling facility on Youngs Avenue in Calverton is undetermined but believed to be non-criminal in nature, a Suffolk County Police Department spokesperson said today. 

The police department’s arson squad has completed its investigation, the spokesperson said.

Riverhead Town Fire Marshal Liam Keating told the Town Board during Tuesday night’s meeting that the fire investigation was completed. Keating came to the podium to update the board and the public after Greater Calverton Civic Association President Toqui Terchun asked the board questions about the status of the investigations by the county arson squad, the county health department and the State Department of Environmental Conservation.

The fire broke out at 2 a.m. on June 4 and firefighters from about 30 departments responded to assist the Riverhead Fire Department battle the blaze, which required nearly 12 hours to bring under control.

MORE COVERAGE: Massive fire destroys recycling plant on Youngs Avenue in Calverton

“I think it would put people’s minds at ease in Calverton if there were specific details on who was doing what, when, whether they’ve done it, how well they’ve done it, and what you expect out of them,” Terchun said after posing questions that Town Attorney Erik Howard endeavored to answer. 

“Today, it sounds to me, from the responses I’m getting from the board and our town attorney, that there’s some question as to the definitiveness of your answers,” Terchun said.

“I can’t give you an answer if we don’t know the answer or it hasn’t been completed yet,” Supervisor Tim Hubbard told her. 

“The arson investigation, to my knowledge, is still ongoing,” Hubbard said, “but I’m going to defer to fire marshal Liam,” he said, pointing out that Keating was waiting behind Terchun to speak at the podium. “He might be able to answer some of those questions,” Hubbard said.

Keating then told the board the fire investigation has been completed, but investigations by the State DEC and the county health department remain ongoing. 

“The DEC did go do several site visits the past couple of days between the water quality division as well as their materials division, who permits the project,” Keating said.  “They went back last Friday and inspected the site and gave them approvals — basically their cleanup order was completed as per their requirements,” he said. 

“That’s not to say that they are back operating as they were. All the outside materials were required to be removed and brought to proper authorities,’ Keating said.  

The DEC said right after the fire that it couldn’t effectively conduct an investigation within the site until the piles of materials that were being stored outside the building were removed. 

MORE COVERAGE:  Cause of blaze that destroyed Calverton recycling plant remains unknown, as officials praise first responders who fought 12-hour battle

“The next step is for them to hire another mitigation company to come in and remove all the burnt materials that were inside the facility,” Keating explained. “That’s going to be a multi-week project by a company that is being hired by the insurance company. So that is their next step from the DEC.”

Keating said the DEC and the county health department will soon return to the property and the investigations from the perspective of the health department and the DEC will continue.

“So by no means is the investigation completed yet. It’s just reached another phase where they’re going to keep working forward and we will keep the board and the town advised on their progress,” Keating said.

Terchun thanked Keating. “That was what I’m looking for,” she said. 

Town code changed to address truck parking and idling on eastern portion of Youngs Avenue 

The Town Board last night took the unusual step of acting on a town code change after a public hearing held during the same meeting. The code change bans parking on the south side of Youngs Avenue and parking of “semi-trailer trucks” on the north side of Youngs Avenue, between Osborn Avenue on the east and East Meadow Road on the west.

The code change came in response to residents’ ongoing complaints about large trucks idling on both sides of the narrow two-lane roadway, making two-way traffic impossible and sometimes one-way traffic difficult. 

Terchun questioned what the term “semi-trailer trucks” meant and whether the term includes large dump trucks. 

Howard said it was “intended to include any large trucks.” 

“Semi” trucks are, by definition tractor-trailers; they are called “semi” trucks because the trailer does not have a front axle, which means it relies on the tractor to support the front of the trailer, so it’s only partially supported by its own wheels. The term “semi-trailer” does not typically include on-highway dump trucks. 

Under the  U.S. Department of Transportation’s Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) system, dump trucks and tractor-trailers are Class 8 vehicles, vehicles with a GVWR over 33,000 pounds. This category includes cement mixers, large flatbeds and other heavy-duty commercial trucks in addition to semi-trucks and dump trucks.

Terchun asked whether the language could be modified to include large dump trucks in addition to semi-trailers.

Howard suggested, and board members agreed, that the code be adopted as proposed and amended in the future to include large dump trucks if the board was inclined to do so. The board voted unanimously to add the section of Youngs Avenue to the list of roads where parking is prohibited.