Sneaky Dumpers Leave Sludge, Cops Serve Warrant

Police are trying to get to the bottom of who is illegally dumping hazardous waste in several Connecticut towns.

State police received a call Friday evening from a Harwinton man who reported that someone had dumped 55-gallon barrels of some kind of liquid along his driveway.

About 30 minutes later, police learned the caller was not the only one to receive a special delivery.
 
The second discovery was made along North Street in Plymouth. A woman who lives in town said she heard a noise, turned around and saw a suspicious truck drive off after dumping several blue 55-gallon barrels.

Police found similar barrels, each leaking a white fluid, along Route 69 in Burlington, another on state park property in Burlington, then another in Bristol.
 
In each case, police called the Department of Environmental Protection, which came to clean up the sites.

The initial investigation showed that the barrels contained different things: oil, sludge, paint solvent and other types of hazardous materials.

The police investigation led them to a Bristol factory, where they seized evidence. Arrests warrants are in the works. Police have not provided names of those they believe are involved. 

Gov. M. Jodi Rell toured one of the sites Monday and crews cleaned the contaminated sites.

"To simply thumb your nose at the rules on the books is unconscionable," she said at the dump site in Harwinton.
 

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