1.1.1 Incident Category

 Abandoned auto salvage junkyard.

1.1.2 Site Description

The Site is a former auto salvage business that became defunct in 2013.  Thousands of junked vehicles were crushed and disposed of by an "unknown" party and more than 150+ drums of waste oil and paint wastes were left at the property, mostly in drums left in bunches or individual locations throughout the approximately 100 acres of vacant land comprising the Site.  In addition, there are a number of out-buildings that most likely contain drums and tanks of waste oil and other automotive fluids and wastes.  In addition to the Site proper, there are approximately 30 drums of waste oil and solvents behind the RPs house, which is contiguous to the junkyard site.

1.1.2.1 Location

The Site is located on approximately 100 acres of predominantly vacant (open) land in Perth, NY.  The Site has an access road from State Road 30 that leads directly into the property.  There is one residence on the property and a number of enclosed workshops.  There are a number of stream running through the Site, and one stream running N-S along the eastern side of the property, almost parallel to Rt. 30 connects with the Mohawk River approximately 8 miles south in Amsterdam, NY.  The Mohawk River is a navigable waterway of the US and is part of the Erie Barge Canal System.

1.1.2.2 Description of Threat

All of the drums are deteriorated and rusted and placed either directly on the ground or are staged in the beds of pick up trucks that are lying on the ground.  The immediate threat is from an unknown number of leaking and/or overturned drums of waste oil and paint wastes, including paint solvents, leaking directly onto the ground.  The secondary threat is from other deteriorated drums that will begin to leak with the coming winter weather.  The proximity of a small wetlands and stream running through the Site raises a possibility of a release not only to the ground but into the wetlands.

1.1.3 Preliminary Removal Assessment/Removal Site Inspection Results

A walk through of the site by the OSC and a representative of the NYSDEC in September, 2016, revealed the presence of 100+ drums of automotive waste liquids as described above.  The property is owned by the RP but is not being used for any productive purpose.  The thousand of junked vehicles that were there as recently as 2013 have been crushed and hauled away, but thousands of gallons of fluids from those vehicles have been left at the Site.

2.1.2 Response Actions to Date

On 7/17/2017 the ERRS contractor demobilized all rental equipment and crew and left the Site.  As of this date all activities specified in the Scope-of-Work in the approved action memo for this Site have been completed.

2.1.3 Enforcement Activities, Identity of Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs)

According to the deeds on file with the County it appears that the property was originally jointly owned by Gary R. Dudka (the father) and Frances Dudka (the mother).  Upon her death in 2004 France's share of the property went into a revocable trust, with Paul Dudka (the son) as Trustee.  In 2014 (a year after all the junked cars were removed) Paul Dudka sold his mother's share of the property out of the Trust to his father.