Babylon defines acceptable fill for construction use.
Town of Babylon officials have defined what deposited fill may contain in an effort to prevent the use of contaminated or improper materials.
The move was initiated by Deputy Supervisor Tony Martinez, who grew concerned about the quality of fill being used on the South Shore during superstorm Sandy recovery efforts.
With so many houses being elevated at the same time, contractors started using large amounts of fill, said town chief environment analyst Rich Groh.
“There’s fill that had concrete and brick and even tires mixed in, and that’s not acceptable,” Groh said.
Martinez tasked Groh with developing a policy for the town to define what fill is and what it should contain.
The definition of acceptable fill applies to materials used at private residential, commercial and industrial sites within the town, according to the policy.
Residents can ask the town to inspect fill and the town can ask that it be moved to an off-site location that meets state Department of Environmental Conservation requirements.
“This gives us the ability to regulate material,” Groh said.
“We’re cognizant of those situations and we certainly don’t want to see anything like that happen,” he said.