Posted at: 07/02/2009 9:48 PM
By: Nick Reisman

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Kingsbury junkyard ordered closed

KINGSBURY - State Supreme Court Justice David Krogmann on Thursday ordered a controversial junkyard in Kingsbury closed, effective July 15, for operating without a license.

In 2008, the state Department of Environmental Conservation ordered that East Side Used Auto Parts close its operations on Burgoyne Avenue.

East Side Auto has drawn the ire of neighbors who say the junkyard is too noisy and an environmental hazard.

The business was supposed to close at the end of June 2008, but the Town Board granted an extension in July and another extension in September that allowed East Side Auto to remain open.

The Town Board granted another extension through the end of 2009 so the business could move to a new location on Route 149. The business continues to operate without a permit, which is required under a recently passed town law.

In the motion, which was urged by the state DEC and filed on the behalf of the state Attorney General’s Office, Krogmann wrote that despite the arrangement with the town to continue to operate, " ... the Court cannot ignore the fact that the defendants are admittedly operating an illegal junk yard."

In July 2008, the state filed a lawsuit against the business charging that East Side was crushing cars without properly draining fluids, resulting in gasoline, petroleum, anti-freeze and Freon to pollute the soil and groundwater wells.

The suit also alleged that the junkyard had spilled dangerous chemicals and improperly stored car batteries and tires.

This article first appeared in The Post-Star