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The company that tore down Ashley’s long-dormant Huber Breaker had better return to clean its mess, which some people worry could be posing a health risk.
Asbestos, a fibrous material that has been linked to lung cancer, remained dried out and left behind at the site after demolition seemingly ended, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection. The agency cited the property’s owner over air-quality concerns last March, yet observers say the place still contains debris, some of which might be contaminated. Comparisons, presumably by area residents of different generations, have been made between the property’s current appearance and conflict-ravaged areas of Vietnam and Syria.
Paselo Logistics LLC, of Philadelphia, partnered with another firm in 2013 to purchase the nearly 27-acre parcel. The price paid at bankruptcy court was $1.27 million, according to news reports.
The massive breaker came down in 2014, presumably to be sold for scrap.
But by all appearances, the Wyoming Valley’s landscape and its residents would have been better off had the purchase been made by fictional junk dealers “Sanford and Son.”
Paselo Logistics’ partner in the project has since sued it, alleging the company had secretly sold some metal to make its profits appear smaller and then misappropriated the cash.
On top of that, Paselo Logistics owed $22,719 in real estate taxes as of the end of last year, according to data from Northeast Tax Revenue. Efforts to get comments – either from someone with Paselo Logistics or the law firm that represents it locally – to include in a recent Times Leader article were unsuccessful.
The DEP should take necessary actions this winter to ensure any public health threats at the former breaker are quickly mitigated. Failure to remedy the problem would potentially allow injury to compound what has been a longstanding insult.
Preservationists had hoped the main Huber building – where coal was once cleaned, smashed and sorted into varying sizes for sale to customers – would be saved and used as a museum to relate the region’s anthracite story and its role in the Industrial Revolution.
Instead, all that remains is a wasteland.
For local history advocates and certain borough residents, this situation goes beyond alleged violations of the Air Pollution Control Act. It seems like abuse of a corpse.