Company sues Peconic Paddler over unpaid bill

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By Hallie Martin

A Manorville environmental remediation company is suing Peconic Paddler in Riverside, charging that the owner of the kayak rental and tour business still owes more than $140,000 for cleanup work that was completed two years ago.

Eastern Environmental Solutions billed the property owner, Jim Dreeben, approximately $360,000 after removing 16 buried gas tanks and 2,000 tons of contaminated soil from the Riverside property in 2007. Mr. Dreeben said he paid the company $240,000 but cannot pay the balance until the business submits the required paperwork to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Michael Flynn, the owner of Eastern Environmental Solutions, confirmed this week that the company has been in court with Mr. Dreeben for more than a year. He said they will not file the paperwork until Mr. Dreeben pays the outstanding balance, or $140,752.73.

“It’s not chump change,” Mr. Flynn said. “The papers will be submitted when payment is received.”

Mr. Dreeben said he needs that paperwork turned in so he can receive a letter from the DEC stating that his property is clean of pollution. He needs that letter before he can sell his Peconic Avenue property as part of a deal involving Suffolk County and Southampton and Riverhead towns. If the deal goes as planned, Suffolk County and Southampton Town would split the cost of the property, which is unknown at this time, and Riverhead Town would annex the land as part of a neighboring park overlooking the Peconic River.

Mr. Dreeben was close to selling his one-acre parcel, which used to be a gas station in the 1970s, to Southampton Town last year. That deal fell through, in part, due to the souring economy.

“I can’t pay him unless the job’s done,” Mr. Dreeben said, referring to Eastern Environmental Solutions and the fact that the company has not filed the required paperwork with the DEC.