In a separate filing with the Commonwealth Court, DEP asked a judge to jail the facility’s owner for contempt, claiming he has ignored a 2024 court order to clean up

YORK, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has filed a request with the Commonwealth Court to issue a bench warrant against the owner of J&K Salvage in York, claiming its operators have not complied with a 2024 court order directing them to address violations at the automobile salvage and scrap metal operation. 

The DEP said it also issued an Administrative Order to the operators of the facility, directing them “to cease accepting and processing waste and begin removing waste already at the site,” Secretary Jessica Shirley said in a statement this week.

The separate filings are directed at Harry J. Darrah, Joe Darrah, Inc., J&K Salvage, Darrah Realty, LP, Darrah Management LLC, (collectively “Darrah”) who operate the salvage yard, which is located at 1099 Kings Road.

According to Shirley’s statement, in 2024, the Court found Darrah in contempt for failing to comply with a 2021 Court Order and directed them to perform corrective actions to purge the contempt. 

The Commonwealth Court’s 2024 Order states it will issue a bench warrant for Harry J. Darrah III to report to the York County Jail System and serve 45 days of incarceration if the DEP certifies Darrah has not complied with its orders, Shirley said.

The DEP’s Commonwealth Court request asks a judge to “compel compliance by jailing the owner, imposing daily penalties, and imposing a judgment for a previous penalty.”

In addition to requesting the Court follow through with its directive to imprison Darrah, DEP said it is also requesting the Court order him to pay a $40,750 civil penalty and stipulated penalties of $250 per day for his failure to purge contempt.

Shirley said the DEP notified the Commonwealth Court of Darrah’s alleged contempt prior to the most recent incident at the salvage yard, a fire at a storage building that caused an estimated 10,000 gallons of automotive liquid to spill onto the ground and surrounding areas, including a tributary to Codorus Creek.

Fire and Hazmat crews installed containment booms in the tributary to the Codorus Creek near the site of the fire to prevent the oil from spreading into the Codorus and potentially reaching the Susquehanna River. The barriers were designed to capture oil on the water’s surface and limit environmental damage.

The barriers recovered more than 4,000 gallons of oily water from the tributary, the DEP said at a press conference last week.

Earlier this week, the Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association filed a request for a preliminary injunction in federal court asking that J&K Salvage be shut down until it complies with environmental regulations.

“The actions of J&K Salvage’s ownership over the years have shown that they are not willing or capable of complying with Pennsylvania’s laws and regulations, and DEP will always hold polluters accountable,” Shirley said in her statement. “We will not tolerate flagrant disregard of the laws and regulations that exist to protect public health and Pennsylvania’s air, land and water. DEP has ordered J&K to shut down and clean up their operations; we are going to court to get them to comply with those orders.”

Under the terms of the DEP’s Administrative Order, J&K Salvage must immediately: 

cease operation of the metal shedder and any other equipment and/or machinery used to separate metal, wood waste and all wastescease accepting all solid wastes at the siteremove all solid wastes from the site to a permitted disposal or recycling facilitydeliver weekly waste receipts to DEPprovide an updated Preparedness, Prevention and Contingency plan to DEP addressing, among other things, pollutants that can get in stormwater runoff from the site.  

This Administrative Order includes J&K Salvage’s more recent violations of the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law and Solid Waste Management Act at the site, Shirley said.