‘Hundreds of truckloads’ of construction and demolition waste deposited on rural property, including plywood, drywall, brick, insulation and glass

A numbered company registered in Hamilton and two of its directors have been fined more than $1 million for violations of the province’s Environmental Protection Act (EPA), including depositing waste onto land that was not an authorized waste disposal site in Essa Township.

According to court documents released Wednesday, Mario Cascio, Wesley Dass and 11705580 Canada Inc. were fined $1.025 million.

Cascio was convicted of five violations under the EPA on Sept. 12, 2024, and sentenced the next day. He was convicted of:


Depositing, permitting or arranging for the deposit of waste onto land that was not an authorized waste disposal site
Operating, establishing, altering, enlarging or extending a waste management system or waste disposal site without ministry approval
Failing to comply with a director’s order by failing to provide documentation to the ministry related to the source and transportation of waste
Failing to comply with a director’s order by failing to remove all waste from a site
Failing to comply with a director’s order by failing to submit a report confirming that all waste had been removed from a site.

Cascio was fined $300,000, plus a victim fine surcharge of $75,000, and given 15 days to pay.

Wesley Dass was convicted of three violations under the EPA on April 18, 2024, and sentenced on Aug. 28, 2025. He was convicted of:


Depositing, causing, permitting or arranging for the deposit of waste onto land that was not an authorized waste disposal site
Submitting false or misleading information in a statement made to a provincial officer
Failing to comply with a director’s order by failing to remove all waste from a site.

Dass was fined $225,000, plus a victim fine surcharge of $56,250, and given 12 months to pay.

The numbered company was convicted of one violation on April 18, 2024, and sentenced on Aug. 28, 2025. The company was fined $500,000, plus a victim fine surcharge of $125,000, and given 12 months to pay.

According to the background information that accompanied the conviction notice, the owners of the property in Essa Township, a former auto salvage yard that had been vacant in recent years, were approached in February 2020 by Cascio and Dass, who were looking to rent land so they could receive tree and natural wood products.

The property owner was told the wood product would be converted into recycled consumer landscape material.

The property owner entered into an agreement with 11705580 Canada Inc., allowing the company to rent two acres of land on the property.

However, the property was not an authorized waste disposal or landfill site, nor was it permitted to operate as a waste transfer or receiver site.

Between April and August 2020, Cascio, Dass and the numbered company directed numerous trucking contractors to deposit “hundreds of truckloads” of construction and demolition waste on the property, including plywood, drywall, brick, insulation and glass.

In September 2020, a provincial officer questioned Dass about the waste deliveries to the site. Dass denied having any involvement in the arrangement, transportation and/or deposit of waste at the site.

In November 2020, a provincial officer’s order was issued to Cascio, Dass and 11705580 Canada Inc., requiring them to cease depositing waste at the site.

They were ordered to commence clean-up by removing and transporting all waste from the site to an approved waste disposal site. They were given an extension until December 2020 to meet the requirements of the provincial officer’s order.

After they failed to comply with that order, a director’s order was issued in May 2021 to the defendants, requiring them to comply with the November 2020 provincial officer’s order.

Two months after the director’s order was issued, Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks staff visited the site and learned no waste had been removed from the location.

In January 2022, Cascio, Dass and 11705580 Canada Inc. were directed to comply with the director’s order.

Fifteen months later, in April 2023, the ministry had still not received confirmation from any of the defendants that the waste had been removed from the site.

The ministry’s Environmental Investigations and Enforcement Branch looked into the matter and laid charges, which resulted in the convictions.

Ministry officials did not respond to a request for more information prior to publication.

Officials in Essa Township said they were aware of the court case but had no involvement in it.