WALLINGFORD - A Hartford Superior Court judge on Friday ordered Pasquale "Pat" DiNatale to stop importing fill onto his Durham property, leaving in limbo the status of 30,000 cubic yards of fill DiNatale has contracted to receive from the MacKenzie Reservoir dredging project.

Judge Grant Miller also ruled that DiNatale could not alter his property in any way until further review by the court, and he must submit a report detailing what was brought to and removed from his property. The report is due Wednesday.

"He was just told to stop bringing the fill in for now and get a report in by next Wednesday," Stein Helrich, Miller's clerk, said Friday. "He's not allowed to make any changes until further notice."

DiNatale, who lives on a 150-plus-acre parcel of land in Durham, is suing the Blue Trail Range and the town of Wallingford over several issues, including alleged lead contamination of Ulbrich Reservoir. On July 9 DiNatale signed a contract with the LaRosa Construction Co., the contractor handling the MacKenzie Reservoir project, to accept 30,000 cubic yards of sediment on his property.

DiNatale, who raises elk and cattle, told the Record-Journal earlier this week that he planned to use the sediment as topsoil to spread over about seven acres of fields to use as a grazing area for his animals.

An average dump truck can hold about 18 to 20 cubic yards of fill, according to local contractors and construction engineers.

Attorneys for the rifle range filed an emergency order with the court Aug. 12, seeking access to DiNatale's property because, they said, they were concerned DiNatale was trying to alter it in some way.

"We've been trying to get site access for quite a while," said Craig Fishbein, one of the attorneys for the range. "One reason is because he claims there's been bullet strikes on his property, and I think we have a right to see that stuff ... we know that there's shooting that goes on on his property behind some of the houses that have been hit."

DiNatale has publicly stated that he does shoot on his property, but he said he makes sure never to fire in the direction of houses. DiNatale's Catherine Drive home is about a mile from the rifle range, separated by Ulbrich Reservoir and Tri-Mountain State Park.

"Clearly, if he's been shooting on his own property and is now removing and bringing in new material, there's a concern," said Martha Dean, the range's other attorney.

Helrich said he believed the attorneys involved in the case set a date for an inspection of DiNatale's property Friday. DiNatale is represented by T.J. Morelli-Wolfe, a New London attorney.

When called for comment Friday, Wolfe responded that he "would not feel comfortable continuing this conversation," and referred the call to DiNatale.

DiNatale did not return calls for comment Friday.

Joe LaRosa, one of the owners of the LaRosa Construction Co., said he received a call from DiNatale Friday afternoon informing him that he could not accept any more fill for the time being.

"He just called me this afternoon and told me that," LaRosa said.

LaRosa said an employee initially informed him of DiNatale's interest in the fill.

"A guy in the office ended up bumping into him, and somehow they got on the subject that he was looking for it," LaRosa said. "We (didn't) advertise it."

dmoran@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224