Waste hauler caught on video dumping sludge in South Dade. Second arrest in 7 months
A suspected serial dumper was back at it again late last week, police say, after he was captured on video for the second time in seven months illegally draining potentially toxic sludge from his truck — this time not far from Zoo Miami.
Back in June, Julio Barreto, 51, the owner of a liquid waste hauling company in South Miami-Dade, was fined and arrested for dumping waste near Allapattah. This time, police said, he dumped his load in Southwest Miami-Dade by some railroad tracks near the zoo and the Country Walk neighborhood.
The substance is still being evaluated for toxic dangers. But Miami-Dade Detective Ryan Cowart of the county’s illegal dumping unit said even if it’s no more than storm-water runoff, it’s still likely to contain dangerous liquids like anti-freeze and other chemicals that can seep into the ground and possibly into the underground drinking water supply.
Barreto was picked up Monday and charged with four felony counts — littering, willful disregard for the environment, creating a dangerous nuisance and ignoring a county ordinance. He was also given six citations for harming the environment totaling more than $8,000.
Barreto remained jailed Tuesday and it wasn’t immediately clear if he had hired an attorney to represent him.
By illegally dumping waste, Cowart said, haulers like Barreto bypass thousands of dollars in fees a month that would be paid to Miami-Dade’s Solid Waste Department, which cleans the waste before getting rid of it.
“You’d have to ask them why they do it. But a lot of it has to do with financial gain,” he said.
Last June, Barreto, who state records show is president of the South Dade company South Florida Vac-Con Services, and his son Dayron Barreto were arrested and charged with illegally dumping 100 gallons of storm-drain water on private property for profit. They were also fined $2,500 each. Julio Barreto was in a pretrial diversion for the first offense when he was arrested again Monday.
Cowart said his arrest Monday was the result of efforts made by his unit and the county to curb illegal dumping. Last fall, Cowart’s unit invited South Florida’s liquid waste haulers to a round-table discussion on the dangers of illegal dumping, how to prevent it and how to follow the law. Barreto did not attend the session.
Cowart said Barreto was arrested and charged after a fellow hauler spotted and videotaped the alleged illegal dump, then sent a copy of the video to Cowart’s unit and posted it on social media.
“The hauler has a business near that location and spotted it,” Cowart said.
Illegal dumping of potentially toxic chemicals has long been a thorn in the side of farmers, residents and investigators, especially in deep South Miami-Dade. Less than two years ago, a South Dade man was arrested and charged with failing to obtain permits, littering and extorting his landlord. Police say he littered the property he was renting with all types of trash and threatened his landlord with more harm if he didn’t fork over $100,000.
The county’s illegal dumping unit has also uncovered illegal dump sites throughout South Dade and often fishes old decrepit boats and other debris out of lakes.
Said Cowart: “If you see something, say something.”
This story was originally published January 31, 2023 at 12:38 PM.
