ELIZABETH SKRAPITS / PUBLISHED: FEBRUARY 10, 2016
ASHLEY — After the owners of the former Huber Breaker site ignored a state mandate for the past year, the state Department of Environmental Protection went to court to get them to clean up their act.
Northeast region DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said the agency petitioned Luzerne County, asking for a judge to enforce a February 2015 order, as well as for the court to issue a new order to get the owners to remove debris and potentially hazardous materials.
Ashley council members have repeatedly expressed concerns about asbestos and other harmful substances on the grounds where the Blue Coal processing plant once stood. Solicitor Bill Vinsko said at Tuesday’s council meeting that the borough does not plan to take action on its own at this point, but, “We’re working with DEP.”
Jonathan Comitz, attorney for the site’s owners, did not return requests for comment.
Philadelphia-based Paselo Logistics LLC and New Jersey-based Reivia Ashley LLC bought the 26.58-acre Huber Breaker property in bankruptcy court for $1.27 million in October 2013. They tore down most of the buildings a few months later, with plans to salvage scrap metal and potentially mine coal. But after the demolition, Paselo — which did the work — left the site as it was.
DEP issued a compliance order on Feb. 26, 2015 to get rid of debris and potentially hazardous substances, giving Paselo a total of 45 days to characterize what kind of waste and contaminants were there and properly dispose of them.
According to the petition filed Monday, DEP charges Paselo with “Storage, dumping, depositing and/or disposal of solid waste at the site” without a permit or against state and department regulations.
“Solid waste, including but not limited to, waste tires and construction/demolition waste, was dumped on the ground. Fluids leaked from 55-gallon drums and other containers onto the surface of the ground, contaminating the surrounding soil. Unidentified liquid was observed improperly stored in an open pit in the maintenance building. This pit also contains contaminated building debris. One roll-off container of asbestos-containing waste remains in the maintenance building and not disposed of as soon as practical, contrary to the Federal asbestos … regulations,” according to legal documents.
Inspections by DEP on March 18, April 15, July 14 and December 8, 2015, determined Paselo had not complied with the Feb. 26 order.
“The only change in conditions at the site appears to be that several large bags of asbestos-containing waste are missing from a roll-off container, with evidence they were removed, drug across the ground and taken to an undisclosed location, without any disposal receipts as required,” the petition states.
Luzerne County Court Administrator Michael Shucosky gave Paselo 20 days to respond to DEP’s petition, and scheduled a hearing for 9:30 a.m. March 14.
Moving day, 2016 budget
In other business, council decided June 1 is moving day.
The borough bought the Cemetery Street building rented by Ehrlich Pest Control to use as a municipal building, and has $270,000 to renovate it. Besides borough offices, the police and fire departments will have headquarters there. Council had been going back and forth for months over what the plan should be.
Council also passed the 2016 budget with no changes. Councilman Gerald Maldonado abstained from the vote.
Members decided on Jan. 5 to reopen the budget and look for more savings. Municipalities have to submit final budgets to the state by Feb. 15.