An Eastport family claims a contractor hired to put down a new lawn left them with a yard filled with dangerous contaminated construction debris.

Janine and Jeff Cronin say they hired Richard Ely to remove trees, grade the property and plant grass. They became suspicious about the contractor when truckload after truckload of what appeared to be dirt was dumped in their backyard.

They claim the dumped materials included a broken toilet bowl, part of metal piping, old sprinkler heads and a broken knife.

The couple claims they confronted Ely, but says he refused to clean up the mess.

After an investigation, the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation fined MWS Construction. That company claims it only provided some of the fill for the project and that Ely provided the rest.

When News 12 contacted MWS owner Mark Sypher, he said he had not seen the yard but was willing to take a look.

Sypher went to Cronin's home and met with a family member who told News 12 that Sypher agreed to remove all of the debris and grade the property.

“News 12 came to our rescue and we are very thankful,” said Janine Cronin.

News 12 also reached Richard Ely, but he didn’t respond. 

News 12 also contacted the DEC for information on the findings of their investigation. It said the investigation is ongoing.