Junkyard cleanup inspected

BAILEYVILLE — Several town officials toured Smith’s Transport Wednesday, to monitor the progress made on the cleanup of the junkyard that has been the center of controversy since 1989. The town’s attorney, Pat Scully, and Joseph Santamaria, owner of JPS/Oiltrol of Bristol, N.H., and the new owner of the facility, also were on hand.

For several years, the town has tried to close the junkyard. In December 1989, the town filed a complaint in Washington County Superior Court against Greg Smith, owner of Smith’s Transport, a truck terminal Smith allegedly purchased from Cole’s Express Co. in January 1989.

The complaint charged that after the purchase, Smith began to store and process wood, wood products, scrap metal, metal tanks, glass, auto and truck parts, disabled vehicles, railroad cars and containers at the site.

In September 1991, a court ordered Smith to permanently clean up the debris within 90 days. The order stipulated that Smith would be liable for a $10,000 penalty and the town’s attorney fees. In February, town officials learned that the property had been sold to Santamaria.

Using aerial photos taken earlier this year, Santamaria said he believed progress had been made in the cleanup. He said he planned to move his equipment to the site early next year.

JPS/Oiltrol Inc. is a leading manufacturer of water-pollution control devices. The company will use the property to stock its new warehouse with booms, skimmers, vacuum equipment, boats, absorbents and other items that would be used to control oil spills and other environmental problems in eastern Maine or the Maritime provinces.

During an inspection of the property Wednesday, Harry Smith, who is overseeing the cleanup, said he planned to move 12 to 13 trailer loads of glass and surplus steel off the site each week. He said that, according to his timetable, the cleanup would be completed by Sept. 1.

An impediment to the cleanup, Smith said, was the removal of several building-sized mounds of broken glass. He said that when an attempt was made to remove the broken glass from the site, workers discovered that the center of the huge mass was frozen solid. Smith said that the ice would eventually melt.

Smith said the glass would be shipped to a city in New Brunswick near Moncton. The unbroken bottles would be shipped to a brewery near Montreal, and the scrap steel eventually would end up in Turkey, Korea or Venezuela.

Although Smith said he would have the area cleaned up by Sept. 1, several of the town councilors who toured the site Wednesday were skeptical.

“There are not enough trucks in the state of Maine to haul all of this stuff out of here by Sept. 1,” said Doug Jones, council chairman. Smith disagreed, saying that he would meet the Sept. 1 deadline. Councilors agreed to visit the site again in July.

Scully said it was apparent from the aerial photographs that progress had been made, but was uncertain if that had been significant progress. He said he did not know if the town would move ahead with the lawsuit that was filed against Smith’s son, Greg.