New Jersey officials ask for court-ordered cleanup of waste at illegal dump

New Jersey officials are asking for a court order to immediately clean an illegal dumpsite in Camden that is filled with contaminated waste several stories high and spreading into neighboring properties, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

The site is owned and operated by S. Yaffa & Sons Inc. and has been described by state officials as being in “decades-long noncompliance with environmental laws and regulations, which continue to expose the Camden community to pollution and other environmental and public health hazards.”

“No community in New Jersey should be used as an illegal dumping ground, and no resident of this state should have their health and safety put at risk by illegal dumping near their home,” says acting Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck in a statement.

“We cannot achieve racial justice without environmental justice,” Bruck continued, emphasizing the disproportionate number of waste sites located in communities traditionally occupied by minorities.

Bruck and Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette filed the action July 19 in the state’s Superior Court as part of a civil suit the state filed in May against S. Yaffa & Sons Inc., reports the Inquirer.

According to the state’s first lawsuit, officials say that S. Yaffa & Sons and its owner, William Yocco, unlawfully imported and stockpiled solid waste, including contaminated soil, construction and demolition debris and waste tires. 

The company sold the site to Weyhill Realty Holdings in July 2019. Weyhill then failed to remove the waste and continued to allow dumping at the site, the state contends.

The DEP inspected the site many times between 2002 and 2021, finding “numerous, repeated violations” of various regulations. This included the presence of a 500-gallon gas tank that had not been properly sealed, which officials say runs the risk of leaking into the soil. Yaffa & Sons have been cited numerous times for the site, but ownership never complied with cleaning up the property before selling to Weyhill.

In recent years, inspections found concrete, brick, block, soil, tires and other materials piled high. Yaffa & Sons was cited for the gas tank and other violations, fined $4,500 and ordered to remediate the property, which would include properly disposing of the construction debris and tires, but officials say Yaffa & Sons never complied before selling the property to Weyhill Realty Holdings.

The 5-count lawsuit demands that Yaffa and Weyhill properly close the storage tank found at the site, create a site closure plan, and investigate all hazardous discharges coming from the site. The state seeks unspecified civil penalty and legal fees, the Inquirer reports.

With the amended filing by the state, officials are asking for:

• the immediate removal of solid waste, dust and debris that has moved from the site to a neighboring home; 
• repair and restoration of damaged fencing; 
• removal of debris that has accumulated on sidewalks, roadways and elsewhere; and
• the stabilization of the solid waste pile over concerns it could collapse and create a contaminated “landslide” into the neighbor’s yard, or onto streets, sidewalks and alleyways.