Citizens group suing Walpole scrap yard owner
WALPOLE - A nonprofit citizens group is taking on a Walpole scrap yard, saying it has been violating the federal Clean Water Act for several years.
Clean Water Action filed a civil suit against Allied Recycling Center Inc. in federal court because, the group says, state environmental regulators have failed to make the recycler obey the law.
The case against Allied is one of three Clean Water Action suits recently filed in US District Court for storm water-related issues involving Massachusetts companies. Each plaintiff was served with a Notice of Intent to sue 60 days before the cases were formally filed in Boston.
“We received various levels of response, but we weren’t able to agree and resolve our disputes,’’ said Nora Chorover, a Boston attorney representing Clean Water Action.
In the case against Allied Recycling, the citizens group asks the court to force the company to stop discharging pollutant-laced storm water into wetlands and streams bordering its 10-acre property, and to require the company to restore any wetlands it has damaged.
Clean Water Action further requests that the court fine the scrap recycler, at a rate of over $32,500 per day, for infractions during the last five years.
Allied Recycling Center, owned by Edward Sciaba, processes and stores scrap metal.
Sciaba, when contacted, referred a reporter to his attorney, Don Nagle, a Plymouth lawyer who specializes in environmental regulations. Nagle did not return a phone message left with his secretary.
Bordering Allied Recycling are a stream to the south, portions of Cedar Swamp on the west, and a series of wetlands on the north. Those wetlands connect to the Neponset River or its tributaries.
Ray Mosher, an abutter of Allied Recycling, said he has been frustrated by the inability of either the town or the Department of Environmental Protection to get the recycling operation to address shortcomings. Mosher and a neighbor have complained to local and state officials for three years about conditions at the property.
“There’s junk out there, like old barrels, and they brought in a crusher that was grinding construction debris,’’ said Mosher, adding he is concerned about harmful material in the debris.
“In my opinion, both the town and the DEP have been dragging their feet,’’ he said. “I’m just grateful the people at Clean Water are doing something. My fear is . . . the town is going to get stuck with the cleanup.’’
The suit contends that rainwater and melting snow pass through piles of corroding metal material stockpiled on the site. Clean Water Action says the operation lacks structural controls to contain and filter the polluted run-off “such as settling basins, grading, berming or roofing to prevent rainfall and storm water flows from coming into contact with these and other sources of contaminants.’’
On-site spills may also occur, the suit contends. Pollutants discharging to storm drains could include PCBs, oil and grease, mercury from switches and lamps, lubricants, paint pigments or additives, heavy metals, transmission and brake fluids, fuel, battery acid, lead acid, antifreeze, benzene, heating oil, petroleum products, solvents, infectious or bacterial contamination, and asbestos. According to Walpole conservation agent Landis Hershey, the Conservation Commission has tried to get Allied to clean up its act for some time, but has not been successful. Two years ago, Hershey issued a Notice of Non-Compliance to Sciaba, ordering the owner to put together a plan, required by law, to address storm-water runoff issues.
Sciaba went as far as hiring an engineer to take care of the matter, Hershey said, but the operation has remained in non-compliance.
Last April, Hershey appealed to the state attorney general’s office for help. In a letter, Hershey wrote: “During several site visits, it was obvious that untreated storm water from the high intensity use of the site was discharging into wetlands with no treatment and no storage.’’
State Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Joe Ferson said his agency is now working with the attorney general’s office on a civil enforcement action against Allied Recycling. He declined to elaborate.
The Department of Environmental Protection had also stepped in at various times in the past, Hershey said, yet the operation has remained in non-compliance.
The US District Court case is part of a statewide effort to make sure companies are complying with the Clean Water Act, according to Chorover. “We can do this under a citizens’ suit provision in the Clean Water Act,’’ Chorover said. “If the government doesn’t have the resources to pursue violations, it offers another layer of protection.’
Gravel and scrap metal operations have the potential to damage neighboring surface water and wetlands, if the right controls are not in place. “The fact Allied didn’t have a General Industrial Permit was a red flag for us,’’ Chorover said. She added she had reviewed the files of the town’s Conservation Commission regarding the scrap yard’s history.
“We haven’t been on site, but there are certain pollutants common to these types of facilities,’’ Chorover said. “They all have to be covered by an EPA General Industrial Permit, and this one isn’t.’’
Christine Legere can be reached at christinelegere@yahoo.com. 
