A judge has fined the owner of a northern Iowa salvage yard over $40,000 for environmental violations.
The Iowa attorney general's office say the judge found that Jerry Passehl, owner of The Junkyard in Latimer, committed solid waste, storm water discharge and hazardous conditions violations. The judge ordered Passehl to bring the business into compliance.
The violations include failing to clean up contaminated soil, failing to dispose of abandoned appliances and failing to notify the Iowa Department of Natural Resources of hazardous conditions.
Attorney General Tom Miller filed a lawsuit in 2010, alleging numerous violations since 2009 when the DNR issued an administrative order to address them.
The judge reached the decision this week following a trial last month.
