Scrap Yard Aims to Appeal Earlier Case

Litigation involving the former Ruschel Auto Salvage Yard in Jefferson Township, Pa., apparently will continue as the property owner has indicated he will appeal the case to the state Commonwealth Court.

Dennis Ruschel filed notice with Greene County Court saying he will appeal a June 13 order in which Judge William Nalitz set aside an earlier court order appointing a board of viewers to determine whether Ruschel should be compensated for the county's taking of his property.

Nalitz had appointed the board in September after Ruschel claimed the county seized his property on Route 188 under the eminent domain code and as a result he was entitled to compensation.

The county seized Ruschel's salvage yard in October 2001 after Ruschel failed to clean up the property as required by a court order issued by Nalitz Aug. 15, 2001.

Since that time, the county has removed scrap metal and junk tires from the 1.2-acre site. The state Department of Environmental Protection also has removed all contaminated soil from the property.

In setting aside the order appointing the board of viewers, Nalitz said the county's taking of the property was not eminent domain but an act of police power, under which the government has the power to enforce laws to provide for the safety, health and welfare of the community.

Ruschel claimed the county's actions diminished the value of his business and resulted in the loss, of among other things, numerous antique items.

Nalitz said, however, that if the county had had to clean up the property, which it did, it should be able to offset its expenses by selling the inventory. Permitting Ruschel to remove the "best parts" of the inventory would have only increased the county's cost for the cleanup, he said.

Nalitz said, in addition, that during the proceedings Ruschel had never once asked the court for permission to remove any personal property, tools or business records from the site.

Ruschel's attorney Mark Morrow said Ruschel's appeal will claim that the county's action went way beyond mitigating the nuisance.

"They literally took everything on the property," Morrow said. This included not only items that had caused the nuisance, such as waste tires and vehicle gas tanks, but Ruschel's antique car parts and his business records.