Florida County Working on Green Yards Program

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is set to start inspecting a number of auto dismantling and recycling facilities in Orange County, Fla., as part of a States Green Yards program, established this year. The program was begun in Orange County earlier this year. The goal of the program was to work with auto dismantlers and industrial recycling operations in the county to ensure that their facilities met all the environmental criteria.

According to Jeff Prather, one of the staff members managing the program, the program began in earnest this July with auto salvage companies invited to a meeting where the DEP showed six compliance modules that companies would need to accept for their operations to be in compliance. According to the program, a company was expected to complete one module a month, allowing the company to be completed by the end of this year.

Of the approximately 80 auto salvage facilities operating in the county, 62 attended the meeting. While the overwhelming majority signed up for the program, a number have not been current with their submissions. As a result, 21 companies have been targeted for inspection, with 13 of them being out of compliance.

While the state DEP would like to get all the companies in compliance, many of the auto salvage companies participating with the program feel that being in full compliance want to make sure that those who have failed or neglected to take the program will be held to the same standards.

"Those salvage yard operators who are complying want us to scrutinize those that aren't so they have a level playing field," says the DEP’s Prather.

While the Green Yards program is only being conducted in Orange County, Prather feels that there is a real likelihood that the program could grow to become a statewide program.

Of the companies inspected over the past several weeks , 13 of the companies found out of compliance will be subject to enforcement through the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

According to the Orlando Business Journal, those salvage yards which may be subject to fines are:

Buen Samaritano Auto Sales, Classic Auto Parts Inc., Executive Auto Recycle, Action Auto Salvage, AAAA Truck and Van Used, Exact Auto Salvage, Orlando Auto Recycling, Inocencio Vilorio Junkyard, Wendys, Brothers Scrap Metal, Unlimited Auto, Floyd's Used Auto Parts and East Colonial Recycling.

The Department of Environmental Protection initiated its Green Yards program in May to help salvage yard operators understand how environmental regulations help prevent pollution. In June, 62 salvage yards attended an educational workshop, and 61 signed letters of intent to participate in the program.

In September, the department inspected 15 salvage yards that had not signed on with the program, and now is working to bring those yards into compliance. This week, the department inspected those that had agreed to participate in the Green Yards program, but which had not shown a good faith effort to actually do so.