Lawsuit says junkyard contaminated boro land
Business accused of disturbing soil with car crusher
BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

SPOTSWOOD - The borough has filed a lawsuit against the owners of a local auto wrecker, claiming that borough land was used and contaminated by the business.

The lawsuit contends that Big A Auto Wreckers & Auto Sales, owned by Perry and Fernando Giancola, kept its car crusher on a parcel of adjacent property owned by the borough on Manalapan Road. Borough officials say that a survey paid for by Giancola found that the crusher was indeed on borough land where a waterline is located.

While Giancola has moved the crusher, soil testing showed that the land is contaminated, according to the borough. Spotswood wants the business to pay for remediation, but the Giancolas contend that the survey of the land is flawed, and that they own the property.

The state Department of Environmental Protection inspected the business's property in October and found that the facility's stormwater discharges to surface and groundwater were unacceptable. Stollen said the DEP ruled that Giancola needed a concrete pad with containment and filtration. Without such devices, contamination from the cars, such as antifreeze, made its way into the ground.

"They witnessed several things," Stollen said of the DEP.

The Giancolas said they have abated the problems, and the DEP has given the business approval to continue operating until 2010, according to Fernando Giancola. Officials said the borough is not pursuing that matter any further.

The borough's lawsuit, however, states that the business contaminated a 20-foot-wide borough-owned easement that contains a water distribution main. The main carries potable water to Spotswood residents from ground wells located a half-mile from the site in question.

The borough, which says the contamination was caused by antifreeze and the failure to drain oils to an oil/water separator under a car crusher, has not yet confirmed the full extent of the soil contamination or whether its drinking water supply was degraded, until further tests are performed by the Giancolas, according to the lawsuit.

Stollen said the borough has been asking the Giancolas to perform more tests on the disputed property, to learn more about any contamination.

"We asked for more detailed testing, but it was not forthcoming," he said.

Councilwoman Marge Drozd said she cannot believe how complicated a simple issue has become.

"What the public needs to know is, we are using every avenue to protect public property and health," Stollen said.

Fernando Giancola said he has "no idea" why the borough is giving him such a hard time, and that the borough cannot prove it owns the property that is the focus of litigation.

"The thing is, they don't even own it," he said, noting that ownership is unclear because the borough has not produced any records proving ownership. The town, he said, never filed a claim to the land when the lines were installed.

Giancola said he is in the process of arranging another land survey.

He admitted there is a "little spot" on the property that had a higher chemical reading than allowed by state, but he said his crusher was never on that spot.

Regarding the borough's claim that antifreeze and other materials spilled onto the ground when cars were being crushed, he said there is nothing left in cars when they are compressed, because the materials are drained out beforehand and go into a tank.