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A Model Junkyard

BayKeeper's Daniel Cooper says that up until recently, Pick Your Part Auto Wrecking in Hayward was a "typical" junkyard. That is to say, it was pretty ugly. More than that, it was a serious environmental problem, especially for the sensitive wetlands of the Hayward Regional Shoreline next door.

There were hundreds of wrecked cars, many dripping brake fluid, transmission oil, glycol, motor oil and other toxics into the unpaved dirt. As a result, a huge contaminated groundwater plume extended into the Shoreline, and during the rainy season, pollutants washed into the nearby wetlands and Bay.

Last October, BayKeeper, alerted by citizen complaints, threatened to sue Pick Your Part if things weren't cleaned up. But instead of getting into a big legal battle, the two sides negotiated a deal to turn the 15-acre site into a "model" junkyard.

The company agreed to pave the entire yard, construct a covered area for its crusher, install a berm around the site perimeter and put in a stormwater treatment system. The changes, which are scheduled to be completed by the start of the 1996 rainy season, will allow all stormwater to be contained and treated on site, so only clean water will flow into the wetlands. Pick Your Part will also contribute $50,000 to a Bay restoration fund.

Attorney Chuck Reed says that the company, which owns eight junkyards in California, had already been planning to do the work and was in the process of getting its permits and writing an EIR. Given current state and federal regulations, unpaved junkyards are a thing of the past, Reed says. "We've made a corporate decision that you can't do business on dirt any more."

Contact: BayKeeper (415)567-4401

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