Cause of Crown Recycling fire deemed ‘undetermined’ 

The coordinated investigation between the Riverhead fire marshal’s office and the Suffolk County Arson Squad has been completed, and the cause of the June 4 Crown Recycling Facility fire was deemed “undetermined.” 

Liam Keating, Riverhead fire marshal, provided an update to the public at a Riverhead Town Board meeting on July 1, saying the cause was “undetermined based on the volume of the incident there” by the SCPD Arson Squad. A SCPD spokesperson confirmed the cause was also “non-criminal.” 

A multiple-building fire broke out around 2 a.m. June 4, at 472 Youngs Ave. in Calverton, destroying four structures on the property. Almost 12 hours later, the flames were fully contained by the 250 first responders who showed up to the scene. The responders came from a collective 35 different agencies, including 26 fire departments, EMS personnel and volunteer ambulances.

Crown Recycling Facility recycles scrap metal, such as stainless steel, wire, motors, radiators, batteries, lead, tin, steel, nickel, zinc, computers and electronic scrap; and disposes of solid waste and demolition debris, according to its website. It has serviced Suffolk County and the five boroughs of New York City for more than 30 years. It also works as a private solid waste private to Riverhead Town and has the capacity to handle 825 tons per day of construction debris and 375 tons per day of solid waste, according to the town’s draft local solidarity waste management plan.

At the time of the Town Board meeting, Mr. Keating said the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation conducted several site visits over the course of a couple of days. Representatives of the NYSDEC’s water quality management and materials management divisions inspected the site, determined that the cleanup order for the property was completed and granted approvals.

“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,” said Mr. Keating. “The next step is for them to hire another mitigation company to come in and remove all of the burned materials that were inside the facility. That is going to be a multi-week project by a company that is being hired by their insurance company.”

Mr. Keating said the Suffolk County Department of Health Services and the DEC are continuing their respective investigations. A NYSDEC spokesperson confirmed in an email to the Riverhead News-Review this week that the county health services department is responsible for any general groundwater quality sampling that may be occurring at the site. 

A county health department spokesperson said the agency will be conducting a reinspection of the site within the next several weeks and then evaluate its next steps regarding environmental sample collection. The DEC does not monitor air quality at the fire site, the state agency said, but ­­­­­­­­DEC’s air quality experts advise “any impact from materials burned in one fire would be temporary.”

As previously reported, the DEC stated that no asbestos-containing waste was present during the fire or subsequent inspection.

In terms of the area impacted directly by the fire, the DEC identified contaminated soil under two burned tractors and an excavator. Crown Recycling’s owner removed the equipment by a July 3 deadline and must now also remove the contaminated soil underneath it and contact the DEC when completed.

In the areas not impacted by the fire, contaminated soil was found in a drum storage location, which reportedly has been excavated and will be inspected. Contaminated soil was also identified under an old tank truck on the property. The DEC said some excavation of this area was completed, but more removal is required. A reinspection will be coordinated after this additional digging is done. 

An investigation into whether any spills have impacted groundwater will not be considered until after the contaminated soil is adequately removed, the DEC spokesperson said. 

At a press conference held the day of the fire, Mr. Keating said there were no smoke detectors in the facility because the structure existed before fire alarms were a requirement. Riverhead Town attorney Erik Howard clarified at the recent Town Board meeting that if rebuilding of the structure were to take place, it would be a requirement to comply with state fire and building codes. 

Crown Recycling was issued two violation notices by the Riverhead fire marshal in 2024 for failure to apply for an annual permit or schedule a required annual inspection, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request to Riverhead Town. In October that same year, the owner was asked to ensure stockpile heights followed NYS Fire Code, which was remedied before the fire marshal’s inspection. The FOIL request also revealed that a fire marshal field report was filed in September 2021 for an incident regarding a fire in a wood grinder.

The DEC entered into a consent order with Crown Recycling in 2018 for violations related to the storage of construction and demolition debris. This consent order required the facility to fund an on-site DEC environmental monitor to oversee compliance with the permit and consent order terms during operating hours.

Steven Aupperle, a Calverton resident, expressed concern about the stability of the deteriorated facility and the risk it poses if it were to collapse or be demolished.

“I understand they’re doing a good job of cleaning it up, it looks like in terms of just collecting everything and moving it to some other place. But that being said, the structure itself is not in good shape,” Mr. Aupperle said. “I don’t foresee it staying upright, and if you’ve seen a metal structure collapse before, there’s a bunch of airborne particulate due to that event.”

Mr. Howard assured concerned community members that if the owners decide to apply for a demolition permit to take the building down, this information would be made public, so residents can prepare accordingly.