A rogue Department of Environmental Protection employee has resigned from his position and agreed to pay thousands of dollars in restitution to the agency after the revelation that he had stolen more than five tons of metal from a wastewater treatment plant.
In a settlement filing from the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board, the employee, Thomas B. Maloney, admits that he began stealing metal from the Owls Head Wastewater Treatment Plant in early 2015. Over the course of 22 months, he stole 11,328 pounds of metal, valued at $13,700. That’s the weight of three Toyota sedans.
Maloney, who has worked at DEP since 2002, agreed to step down from his position and repay the $13,700 to DEP. He also accepted the terms of a previously imposed 65-day suspension, which had cost him almost $16,000 in lost wages.
Scrap metal theft among local civil servants is not unheard of. In 2013, 15 Long Island Rail Road employees were arrested in connection with the theft of more $250,000 worth of copper wire from LIRR rail yards. In 2008, the city suspended dozens of sanitation workers from their jobs for stripping down air conditioners along their collection routes. If you're interested in reading more stories of scrap metal larceny, just search "scrap metal" in this 400-page compilation of COIB enforcement case summaries. Here's some musical accompaniment.
