Compliance Assistance and Pollution Prevention in New England

Smith’s Junkyard

For over 20 years, federal and state agencies have been dealing with the auto salvage sites belonging to Harry Smith, Jr. in Meddybemps, Maine. Over the years, Smith has compiled a list of violations ranging from piles of over 1 million tires spread out randomly over 11 acres, trailers filled with hazardous waste leaking into the ground or posing a risk of explosion, and the dumping of military surplus equipment, scrap metal and old ammunition collected by Smith’s father and Smith.

The recent violations involved Smith’s storage of calcium carbide, a highly explosive material that when mixed with water produces acetylene gas. The 137 hundred-pound drums of the material were stored inside a trailer. The calcium carbide started to pose a threat to the safety of the public and the people who work or visit the junkyard when the trailer seams opened up allowing rain and snow into the trailer. The containers of carbide were also in poor condition. Many of the containers had burst and there was a layer of powder several feet thick on the floor of the trailer. The carbide was reacting to the water - producing the gas and thereby increasing the risk of an explosion in the area.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection oversaw the successful, but potentially dangerous cleanup of the carbide, but this is not the first time state and federal agencies have had to come in and cleanup Smith’s messes. His salvage yards have been the subject of three separate cleanups by the federal government and the state of Maine. The costs to the government and to taxpayers have totaled over $3.6 million dollars already. Further remediation and cleanup of the site is expected to cost an additional $3 million.

In February 2003, Smith was found guilty of violating Maine state laws for the illegal handling of hazardous waste, handling hazardous waste without a permit, and operating a waste facility without a proper license or permit. In March, Smith’s properties, 52 acres of waste, were declared to be an uncontrolled hazardous waste site by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

When Smith was found guilty, the prosecutor of the case told the jury that Smith has a cavalier attitude towards environmental laws and the responsibilities of maintaining a salvage yard that complies with federal and state laws. The judge sentenced Smith to four years in jail, but three years were suspended. Smith will be in jail for one year.