Permit Renewal For Salvage Yard Denied

LeClair's Garage & Auto Parts, Chester, NH, was dealt another setback when the board of selectmen declined to sign a license renewal permit this week.

The salvage yard has been operating since the 1940s and owned by the LeClair family since the 1980s. It is currently owned by Lorette LeClair, and operated by her son Wayne LeClair.

The business has been on the board's agenda several times since late 2003, when water from a private well near the junkyard was tested and found to contain methyl tertiary-butyl ethe, an additive used to make gasoline burn cleaner. Because salvage yards handle a high volume of gasoline, LeClair's is considered the probable source of the contamination.

Prior to the board announcing their decision not to approve the renewal, neighbors of the business, Jodi and Charlie Mitchell, presented a letter on behalf Chester Citizens for Environmental Protection asking that the renewal be denied. The letter further questioned whether requirements for operation stated in a May 2004 cease and desist order had been met.

Audience applause erupted when former selectman Charlotte Lister voiced support for the group's demand that a new license, rather than a renewal, be obtained so that LeClair's would have to meet current standards and zoning laws.

The Mitchells also expressed frustration that LeClair's had recently taken in more vehicles despite the cease and desist order and a lack of permit.

Further tests showed detectable amounts of MtBE in more than a dozen nearby wells surrounding the salvage yard. The state standard for drinking water allows 13 parts per billion of MtBE. Four of the wells, including the Mitchells', had from 15-77 ppb and have since had filtration systems installed at the expense of state.

Last March the state Department of Environmental Services began installing nine monitoring wells on and around the LeClair property.

"We are also monitoring 14 other (private) wells in the area," said DES spokesman Jim Martin. The department is awaiting results from a supplemental site investigation, he said.

At the same time the monitoring wells started, the selectmen denied a previous application to renew LeClair's permit to operate. A letter from the board and the cease and desist order, outlined a number of remedial actions that needed to be taken by LeClair in order to operate. They included control of fluid management, gasoline extraction and storage, engine and parts storage and spills. LeClair was also to remove what building inspector/code enforcement officer John R. Gilcreast this week estimated to be 3,000 to 4,000 tires. To date, that has been reduced to about 200, Gilcreast said.

A primary concern expressed at this week's board meeting was the impervious surface required to prevent further seepage. Gilcreast said such a surface exists inside a garage that could not even be used until the cleanup started, but he said that it did not have the specified berm.

Wayne LeClair said yesterday that berms should apply only to outdoor use.

Although Gilcreast was uncertain if LeClair has a spill prevention and spill kit, LeClair said that he does have such equipment and that he has done everything else he can to comply with requirements.

Last Oct. 29, based on LeClair's progress and "an informational letter from DES," Gilcreast and health officer Darrell Quinn gave Wayne LeClair permission to operate on a limited basis, taking in a maximum of two cars at a time, with several stipulations to ensure safe procedures.

Gilcreast said he wanted to allow LeClair to make money to be able to continue the cleanup.

"I would say it has gone through a 300 to 500 percent change from what it was," said Gilcreast. "It's not the same place. Mr. LeClair has spent considerable time and money cleaning it up. What we need him to do is to continue on (cleaning). My goal as code enforcement officer is to keep him in compliance."

Gilcreast, who inspects each load LeClair sends out, said he has made from 60 to 70 inspections at the site this year.

"If he walks away from it, the town will be left with the cleanup problem and expense," he said.

"He has spent all the money he has on doing what I would consider an extremely good job," said Geoffrey Barnett, chairman of the board of selectmen. He acknowledged that "there are still things to be done" including installing an outside monolithic pad with a drain and a 10-foot fence on one side of the property.

"The next go-round is to remove the solid waste that is there," Barnett said.

Less than two weeks after allowing for limited operation, Gilcreast rescinded the permission under legal counsel's advice.

"It's the biggest 'Catch 22' I've ever been involved with," Gilcreast said.

Wayne LeClair couldn't agree more.

"They want me to finish cleaning up, but they won't let me work, so how am I going to make the money to finish," he said. "I've been here eight months cleaning with no real money coming in. ... I've done everything they want me to do; I don't know what else they want me to do."

LeClair said that after a meeting with the selectmen in early December, he believed they would sign the renewal. After a month he began taking in cars again.

"They all agreed to it and took my ($50 application) money again. I've got to do something now. I'm out of options."

Barnett acknowledged that the board had considered signing the renewal in December but were advised not to by an attorney.

LeClair said he was not sure how much he has spent on cleanup, but estimated it at about $20,000. The state funded the engineering, well installation and monitoring and removal of some soil, said Martin.

As of yesterday, LeClair said, he did not have any vehicles in to junk.

"I don't have anything here," he said. "It comes in. I strip it and put it on a trailer and send it right out."

Following this week's tabling of the renewal application, Gilcreast said he has spoken with an attorney regarding another cease and desist order that will be "fine tuned" to existing conditions of LeClair's business, but declined to give specifics. Union Leader