Cleanup continues of former Indiana auto salvage yard

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) - The cleanup for a former auto salvage yard in Indiana remains unfinished a dozen years after the state first issued a notice of violation.

The state Department of Environmental Management's 2006 citation alleged Harold and Herbert Holding of Northwest Truck and Auto Parts illegally stored at least 30,000 waste tires and openly dumped waste at the site, the Star Press reported . The company is now known has HRH Trucking.

While the Holdings have shredded and removed tires from the site over the years, thousands remain, according to the department's records.

The department has sought $12,500 in a February citation accusing the Holdings of illegally disposing waste at the site last year.

The department, the Holdings and contractor FT Muncie Partners entered into a remediation and escrow agreement last year. The contractor objected to paying the Holdings about $47,000, alleging the cleanup work didn't comply with the agreement's terms.

The accrued civil penalties and interest on the court judgment to enforce the 2006 order increased from $84,000 in 2011 to more than $295,000 as of June, according to the remediation-escrow document.

The department moved forward with the escrow agreement because the Holdings never paid the civil penalty, said Brady Hagerty, a department spokesman. No money has been taken out of escrow yet because no waste tires have been properly removed from the site in accordance with the agreement, he said.

A Fresh Thyme Farmers Market was recently built near the site.

Harold Holding hasn't responded to the newspaper's request for comment.

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Information from: The Star Press, http://www.thestarpress.com