Compliance Assistance and Pollution Prevention in New England

Gendron Junkyard

The Gendron Junkyard in Pelham, New Hampshire, has been owned and operated by Frederick and Elizabeth Gendron since 1955. Originally, the Gendrons sold and repaired automobiles, and bought and sold scrap metals and other parts. In the mid-1970s, they began to sell scrap metal obtained from the pressing and shredding of automobiles.

To obtain the scrap metal from cars, vehicles are drained of fluids and dismantled and then the vehicle body is shredded. Metal pieces are magnetically picked up from the shredding pile. The waste and residue leftover is called auto shredder residue (ASR) or auto “fluff.” Auto fluff can contain high levels of cadmium, chromium, lead, and polychlorinated biphenols (PCBs) if the fluids are not completely drained from the cars before crushed and shredded. These chemicals and substances can contaminate the ground if they are present in the auto fluff.

In 1997, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services began investigating environmental contamination at the Gendron property. A pile that contained 10,000 cubic yards of ASR was found on the property. Cadmium, lead and PCBs had leached from the pile into the surrounding soil.

From April 1998 to December 2000, EPA spent approximately $2.6 million on the cleanup of the Gendron Junkyard. The cleanup efforts involved excavating and treating the 6,000-ton ASR pile and transporting it to an approved landfill for disposal. Extensive sampling was also conducted to identify the ASR-contaminated soil. Lastly, a wetland that had been filled by the Gendrons was restored.

The Gendrons claimed they were not able to pay the $2.6 million EPA incurred in cleaning up the site. In February, 2002, EPA reached agreement with the Gendrons to recover part of the cleanup costs. In the final settlement, the owners agreed to pay $650,000 for the cleanup.

This violation probably could have been avoided by proper storage and disposal of the ASR. Cars that were going to be shredded needed to be properly and completely drained of fluids. The Gendrons should have stored the ASR in a covered area and installed a liner or concrete pad to prevents any pollutants from leaching into the soil and prevent runoff of contaminated storm water to surface waters. The Gendrons should also have identified an approved landfill for the ASR waste disposal and periodically hauled the waste to the landfill for proper disposal.