The Sierra Club has filed a lawsuit against Service Scrap Metal Inc. and its owner, Michael Taylor, claiming that they violated the Clean Water Act by discharging polluted stormwater from their scrap metal facility into U.S. waters.
The lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club details a pattern of negligence at the Oceanside, NY facility operated by Service Scrap Metal Inc., with claims that the company has been releasing contaminated stormwater into Hog Island Channel without adequate pollution controls. According to the lawsuit, these actions violate Sections 301(a) and 402(p) of the Clean Water Act as well as state permits regulating industrial stormwater discharges. The Sierra Club asserts that despite being covered under New York State’s Multi-Sector General Permit for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Industrial Activity since 2007, Service Scrap Metal Inc. has failed to implement necessary measures to minimize pollution.
The plaintiff details numerous infractions, including inadequate pollution control measures and failure to comply with required corrective actions following excessive pollution levels in stormwater samples. These alleged failures have resulted in benchmark exceedances for pollutants such as aluminum, cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc across multiple monitoring periods since 2008. The Sierra Club contends that these persistent violations have contributed significantly to water pollution in local waterways like Hog Island Channel.
Seeking declaratory and injunctive relief along with civil penalties against Service Scrap Metal Inc., the Sierra Club aims to compel compliance with environmental regulations and mitigate further harm to water quality. The organization is advocating for stringent enforcement of federal and state laws designed to protect aquatic ecosystems from industrial pollutants.
The case was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York under Case No. 2:25-cv-2207.