BUFFALO, N.Y. — Efforts to hold the owner of a former concrete crushing business accountable to a 2022 consent agreement with the New York State Attorney General's Office continued Thursday.
Peter Battaglia, the owner of the now-shuttered Battaglia Demolition, has largely avoided answering questions from 2 On Your Side in recent years but was forced to do so under oath in Judge Deborah Chimes' Erie County Supreme Court.
Assistant Attorney General Patrick Omilian started by asking Battaglia if he had taken any steps to remove "the tons of concrete debris" from the site of the former business on Peabody Street in Buffalo, to which Battaglia responded: "Um, not physically no."
In 2022, the State Attorney General's Office and the Department of Environmental Conservation announced a court-ordered agreement with Battaglia for illegally operating a solid waste facility without required state environmental permits.
For years neighbors near the site had complained to state and federal officials about rats, insistent noise, and dust coming from the site. 2 On Your Side began reporting on the issues in 2015.
The agreement signed by Battaglia ordered him to clean up the site and to pay up to $1,050,000 in penalties, neither of which have happened over the past 2 years.
In court Thursday, Omilian asked Battaglia whether any trees or natural space had been added, as was required by the agreement. Battaglia responded: "Not physically but mentally I have."
Omilian's questioning then revealed that Battaglia doesn't currently have the property listed for sale and that he also owns several other properties nearby.
Next, Battaglia's attorney asked his client about various circumstances that have happened since the business was ordered to shut down operations in 2018 as part of a civil judgment.
BATTAGLIA ATTORNEY: Are you currently employed?
MR. BATTAGLIA: No.
BATTAGLIA ATTORNEY: When was the last time you were employed?
MR. BATTAGLIA: Prior to January of 2019.
BATTAGLIA ATTORNEY: Why are you not employed at this time?
MR. BATTAGLIA: I was in a serious car accident.
Battaglia testified that the accident left him permanently disabled in January 2019, that he's had his neck and lower back fused since then, and has been receiving about $1,000 in social security disability per month.
The next line of questioning focused on a fire in 2021 that destroyed a building on the site. According to Battaglia, the fire tanked a deal to sell the property to a local plumbing company.
"They were going to clean it up, they were going to empty out the trash in the building. They were going to remove the berm. They were going to do all the landscaping required by the state, Mr. Omilian everything that you wanted to be done was going to be done," Battaglia said.
The fire was deemed arson by the Buffalo Fire Department but Battaglia made sure to take time during his testimony to "state on the record" that he had nothing to do with the fire.
He added that his insurance company denied his claim after the fire and that he has since sued that insurer.
The Thursday court proceeding lasted about an hour, during which neighbors like Diane Lemanski, who has been fighting to hold Battaglia accountable for years, watched and learned a lot of new information.
When asked about that information she joked, "I plead the fifth."
"All I can ask for is Judge Chimes put herself in our position, too, not just Peter's. I'm not saying that's what she's doing. But I'm saying, 'Please look at our side, too. I still have to go home to Peabody Street,' " Lemanski said.
She added that while Battaglia can go home to Williamsville, she and her neighbors are forced to live on Peabody Street with rats and concrete dust that wouldn't be there if the former Battaglia Demolition site had been cleaned up.
Neighbors like Lemanski have been receiving legal support from the Clean Air Coalition of WNY.
The group's executive director, Chris Murawski, called it a double standard to not expect Battaglia to clean up his property, while neighbors along Peabody are.
"Since 2018 this has been shut down. It's going on six years now, and they've had to suffer for about a decade before. Their health and safety had to suffer, and continues to suffer, with the delay in the cleanup of the property," Murawski said.
Through tears, Lemanski added.
"I just want justice for us I just want our quality of life back. I don't think that's asking too much," Lemanski said.
Judge Chimes reserved her decision and told counsel to expect one in 30 to 90 days.