DOJ, EPA Sue Salvage Yard For Cleanup

The U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency have filed a lawsuit against the heirs to a former Wilmington, Del., salvage yard, seeking to recoup cleanup costs.

The lawsuit against Diamond State Salvage and the heirs of its onetime owner, Herbert Sherr, seeks more than $18 million.

The former salvage yard site was found to be contaminated with lead and other pollutants in the early 1990s. Buildings, 100,000 tons of contaminated soil and more than 4,700 tons of debris were removed from the four-acre property. In 2000, the EPA declared the cleanup successful.

Attorney Mike Parkowski, who used to represent the business, said the company is all but defunct and has no assets beyond the land.

The lawsuit appears to be a standard cost-recovery effort by EPA, he said. "But you can't get blood out of a rock," Parkowski added, "and that is what they are dealing with in this case."

The property on the Brandywine, which operated as a salvage yard from 1949 to 1992, is already tied up with tax and other government liens, Parkowski said.

"We filed to preserve a legal position," said David Sternberg, EPA spokesman for the mid-Atlantic region. "The negotiations are active and ongoing." (Delaware) News Herald.