The Junkyard Subdivision
The subdivision built on top of the oldest junk yard in the county.
The junkyard was documented by Google Maps, and its existence can be traced back as far as satellites have been taking detailed photos of the area. A simple search was performed and pulled up satellite images dating as far back as the early 1980s. No one we have talked to can remember a time when the junkyard was not there, and no one can remember when it was in operation, which places its existence at least as far back as the 1940s. It’s estimated date of origin is somewhere within the 1930s.
Keep in mind, this junkyard predates all safety regulations, and this particular one spent at least half a century out of operation, and everything was allowed to sit and rust away into oblivion. The numerous old cars, fork lifts, refrigerators, freezers, oil drums, paint buckets, and gas pumps went deep into the property and could be seen from the road up until the property was put up for sale around 2016-2018-ish.
Before putting it up for sale the owners of the property did have the rusted remains hauled off for disposal, but they didn’t do anything about the pollutants that were left behind in the soil. Everything that was once there had been allowed to drain into the soil, and nothing was done about it.
It is not that the vehicles were allowed to sit and rust, it is that the junkyard predates modern means of toxic waste disposal. The only thing you could do with used oil and old paint was either take it to a junkyard or try to burn it. The public was completely unaware of the hazards. According to the New Mexico department of Environmental Safety, waste from salvage yards can contain Mercury, Xylene, and Toluene 1.
Practically everyone. The county has been told about it, the builders know they built on top of it, and even the health department has been notified. Yet the county still approved the subdivision to be built there. You might wonder, where did the builders build the houses? Right on top of the polluted soil. Admittedly, they had to scrape off the land to grade it, but all that did was scrape off the topsoil leaving a layer of polluted red clay. Compared to loam and sand based soil types, clay soils are not considered well draining, and it is due to this characteristic of prominently clay soil Due to the difficulty of water to penetrate and permeate through soils heavy in clay content, this just exposed ground with a heavier concentration of pollutants.
This is not the first time the county has acted so wrecklessly, and approved developments they knew posed a danger to the public. T.B.D
| Year | Location | Link |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Cape Cod | Junkyard Time Bomb |
| 1987 | Tulsa | Salvage Yard Makes Epa List |
| 2024 | Queens, NYC | New York Auto Salvage Environmental Penalty |
| 1998 | Tampa | Settlement to Clean Polluted Ybor Salvage Yard |
| 1986 | Los Angeles | Salvage Yard’s Levels of PCBs Raise Concern |
| 2014 | Springdale, AK | Lawsuit Planned over Springdale Auto Salvage Lot |
| 2009 | Columbus, Oh | EPA rarely checks salvage yards |