Former junkyard owner guilty of not reporting environmental hazards
A former junkyard owner was found guilty of failing to report contamination on his Leominster and Sterling property, the state announced.
According to a joint statement from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) and Attorney General Martha Coakley, Paul Lukashuk, 70, who now resides in Arkansas, was found guilty of failing to notify MassDEP about the release of hazardous materials and for selling the property without recording hazardous waste disposal with the Registry of Deeds. The verdict followed a three-day jury trial in Worcester Superior Court.
Judge Richard T. Tucker sentenced Lukashuk to 18 months in the House of Correction and suspended him for a probationary period of five years.
He also said Lukashuk should be prohibited from handling or managing solid waste or hazardous materials.
“Owners of properties that contain hazardous materials must be transparent about the contaminants on their sites or they put unknowing buyers and nearby residents at potential risk of harm,” said MassDEP
Commissioner David W. Cash. “This case sends (a) clear message that property owners must do the right thing to fully protect the public health or they will pay a heavy price.”
According to the state, the 31-acre property Lukashuk owned at 1537 Central St. in Leominster stretched into Sterling and was a scrap and recycling facility for decades.
In 2000, a potential buyer had an environmental engineering firm assess the condition of the property. It found that 4 acres of the property in Leominster were contaminated with PCBs, cadmium and lead.
The potential purchaser withdrew and also notified Lukashuk of the contamination.
According to the state, Lukashuk failed to report the contamination to MassDEP as is required. When he eventually sold the property in 2005, Lukashuk failed to file a notice with the Registry of Deeds that hazardous waste was disposed of on the property, a requirement under the state’s Hazardous Waste Management Act.
The trial was the result of an investigation by the Massachusetts Environmental Strike Force, an interagency unit overseen by Coakley, Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rick Sullivan and MassDEP Commissioner David W. Cash.
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