Patriot Recycling

The owner of the Youngs Avenue farmland where compost materials were stockpiled pleaded guilty Tuesday to Riverhead code violations.

Patriot Recycling has removed about 4,400 cubic yards of materials so far from the Calverton farmland where the Oceanside company began stockpiling the materials over a year ago.

The owner of the Youngs Avenue site where organic materials have been stockpiled by a Nassau County waste management company has agreed to remove the materials over a two -week period beginning Monday, Supervisor Tim Hubbard announced Friday afternoon.

Riverhead Town has ordered the owner of Patriot Recycling to remove 3,000 cubic yards of materials from Youngs Avenue preserved farmland where it plans composting operations.

Riverhead Town has not revoked Patriot's use permit, but has sent the owner a letter prohibiting deliveries of yard trimmings to the site until active farming begins, Riverhead Town Attorney Erik Howard said.

A Patriot Recycling truck carrying materials entered the former Warner Nursery site on Youngs Avenue this afternoon, in spite of the posted stop-work order on the fence at the entrance, prompting a visit from Riverhead Police. 

The town says the composting operation— which has drawn numerous complaints about odors and truck traffic — violates town code because there is no active farming taking place at the site.

An Oceanside solid waste facility is moving its composting operation to Calverton because of odor control issues at its Nassau County site. Calverton residents are angry, complaining about a stench they say arrived after dumping in a local farm field began.