Time Running Out For Minnesota Salvage Yard

Time may be running out for the Schwartzman Company, 2905 N. Ferry St., Anoka, to comply with a January 2003 administrative order issued by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).

The salvage yard, which has been the subject of numerous neighborhood complaints about noise and dust pollution dating back to 2000 and which was the site of large fire Sept. 9, 2002, has been court ordered to remove a berm constructed of what is known as shredder fluff no later than March 31, 2004.

The order was issued by Anoka County District Court Judge Sharon Hall Dec. 22. Under the order, Schwartzman must remove hazardous waste sections of the berm by Feb. 29, 2004 and solid waste sections by March 31, 2004.

Removal and disposal of the material in the berm must also be done in compliance with all local, state and federal regulations. The MPCA will additionally conduct inspections to ensure that the facility meets all standards during the removal process.

The removal may involve both truck and rail transport of waste. The salvage yard must also sample the soil under the berm by April 20, 2004, and treat and/or dispose of any contaminated soil which exceeds industrial soil reference values, according to Jeff T. Connell, compliance coordinator for the regional environmental management division of the MPCA.

Schwartzman Company constructed the berm after installing a metal shredder in May 1999 in response to the resident complaints about noise and dust pollution. The metal shredder is supposed to extract scrap metals from appliances and automobiles. It leaves what the company maintained is a benign substance called shredder fluff, of which the berm is partially constructed and which has constituted a large on-site stockpile now almost completely removed.

The shredder fluff in both the berm and the stockpile has tested above allowable levels of 50 parts per million (ppm) for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and also lead.

PCBs have been used as coolants and lubricants in transformers, capacitators and other electrical equipment because they don’t burn easily and make good insulators. The most commonly observed health effects to people exposed to large amounts of PCBs are skin conditions such as acne and rashes. Workers exposed to PCBs have shown changes in blood and urine that could indicate liver damage.

Lead can adversely affect the central nervous system, particularly in children. It can also damage the kidneys and the reproductive system.

“The fact that lead and PCBs were known to be in the shredder fluff, these have been our concerns,” Connell said at a Nov. 20 public information and citizen meeting attended by as many as 75 angry and perturbed residents.

At that meeting, John Schwartzman, owner of the salvage yard, appealed to residents and state and local officials to give him more time to comply with the January 2003 MPCA administrative order.

Fighting off criminal charges while both negotiating with the MPCA and attempting to find a place to dispose of the shredder fluff delayed his company from complying sooner than it could have and still can, both monetarily and in an effective way, he said.

“We know we’ve outgrown our welcome with the shredder,” Schwartzman said. “We’re not trying to cause people any problems. We’re a throw-away society, and we need a place to take our appliances, our metals, our vehicles.”

The salvage yard continues to remove the existing stockpile under an order issued in Anoka County District Court Sept. 15, 2003, according to Connell. As of December, he said, Schwartzman had removed approximately 80 percent of the waste pile.

The entire pile must be removed by March 13, 2004, and no new waste may be added to the stockpile. After it is gone, the salvage yard must sample all areas where shredder fluff was placed for possible contamination and will be required to undertake any necessary cleanup, he said. Anoka County (Minnesota) Union