By Ivan Pereira
A Broad Channel man pleaded guilty last week to using the environmentally sensitive Jamaica Bay as his personal dumping ground — literally, the state attorney general said.
John Schmitt, 56, pleaded guilty Sept. 24 in Queens Supreme Court to several counts, including two violations of the state's environmental crimes.
The sink and toilet pipes to his home and business, Schmitt's Marina, were illegally installed and flushed pounds of raw sewage into the ground and water of the ecosystem, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.
“John Schmitt's actions have been truly disgusting,” he said. “Dumping raw sewage into a public waterway is not just bad for the environment, it is a clear abuse of the people who use the bay for swimming, fishing and boating.”
The Broad Channel resident also owned and operated a telephone answering service at a nearby building that had a toilet connected to Jamaica Bay. The illegal pipes at Schmitt's residence were concealed beneath pieces of wood and raw sewage, according to the state's Department of Environmental Conservation.
While searching his residence, police also found that he was in possession of an unlicensed firearm, the attorney general said.
“The hard work of DEC's Bureau of Environmental Crimes Investigation uncovered the numerous illegal activities, carried out with total disregard for the ecology of Jamaica Bay, at Schmitt's Marina,” said DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis in a statement.
Jamaica Bay has been suffering through tough ecological times as its saltwater marshland has been slowly deteriorating over the last few decades. A study issued last year by the city-created Jamaica Bay Watershed Committee reported that all of the marshes would be gone by 2012.
In addition to the marshland, the 3,000-acre ecosystem is home to hundreds of birds, fish, reptiles and insects.
Schmitt is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 28, when he faces up to four years in prison and up to $200,000 in fines, the attorney general said.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
