The Department of Environmental Conservation announced Tuesday, July 19, that it has formally settled a series of environmental violations against Willie Noyes, who owns and operates Willie’s Village Auto located at 100 Weeks Hill Road in Stowe. The settlement includes an $18,000 penalty.
Department personnel discovered the environmental violations during a series of site visits from August 2014 to November 2015. During these visits, personnel observed that Noyes was failing to store spent lead acid batteries under cover and on impervious surface; and that he was failing to store used oil in properly marked, closed, and well-maintained containers also on impervious surface and under cover. In addition, they observed several areas of soil that had been stained from unauthorized discharges of used oil and potentially other hazardous waste. Finally, personnel observed that, based on the number of junk motor vehicles located at Noyes’s property, he was operating a salvage yard without obtaining the Agency’s approval.
These actions and inactions were violations of Vermont’s Hazardous Waste Management Regulations and statutes and its salvage yard statutes. These laws protect public health and the environment by ensuring both that hazardous wastes are properly collected, transported, stored, and disposed of and that salvage yards don’t have unfavorable effects on Vermont’s groundwater and natural environment or could potentially become a nuisance.
After being notified of these violations, Mr. Noyes retained an environmental consultant to help bring his business into compliance with Vermont’s Hazardous Waste Management Regulations and implement a soil sampling plan in response to the hazardous waste discharges. However, the Agency observed additional violations after this consultant completed his work.
“Vermont’s Hazardous Waste Management Regulations protect Vermonters and Vermont’s environmental resources,” said Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Alyssa Schuren. “Those who violate them and who fail to come into compliance in a timely manner do a disservice to their fellow Vermonters and can expect to pay a penalty commensurate with their behavior.”
