L&I revives its scrapyard inspection program: ‘We want compliance’

Natasha Lee and 15 other code enforcement inspectors with the Department of Licenses and Inspections have been on what can be best described as a scrapyard inspection blitz.

“I know it’s going to be a mess, I know it’s going to be junky,” she said of scrapyards, even if they do meet fire code regulations.

Lee and colleagues have visited more than 140 Philadelphia scrapyards since mid-March, ensuring combustible piles of plastics, tires, or rubber aren’t over 20 feet in height or stored within 10 feet of any property line.

The wave of inspections is a revival of past efforts — dampened by the pandemic — to get scrapyards to comply with the fire code and zoning regulations. L&I leaders say the renewed scrapyard inspection program, which they say will be an annual effort, is meant to complement year-round visits brought about by resident complaints and they hope the visits prompt “behavior modification” from scrapyards not following the rules.

“We don’t want to really close anybody down, we don’t want to put people in court, we want compliance,” said Michael Troise, director of the Code Enforcement Unit at L&I. “When they see we’re coming every year, they will realize that it’s better just to be in compliance.”

L&I has endeavored to curb the number of scrapyards flouting regulations and best practices for more than a decade because of the inherent safety concerns attached to these businesses, which are often right next to residential properties. In the 2000s it was part of the Scrapyard Task Force, an effort between city, state, and federal agencies to inspect the more “problematic” scrapyards in the city.

Still, L&I Deputy Commissioner Melvin Carrasquillo said a series of suspicious fires in 2018 made the department inspect a wider selection of junkyards, identifying 115 sites across the city and sending inspectors to make sure they were up to code. That effort yielded 277 fire code violations, 37 licensing violations, and 11 zoning violations.

» READ MORE: City says scene of Kensington junkyard fire cited multiple times, owners taken to court

COVID-19 made carrying out inspections more challenging, but with the city resuming its pre-pandemic rhythms, L&I opted for bringing back the 2018 inspection model.

And while the inspectors are the keystone of the program, it’s a department-wide effort pulling from geographical information services, which help identify the scrapyards to be visited, to the litigation support unit.

According to L&I, the groundwork for scrapyard visits begins before an inspector sets foot on the site, as they review details like what a business is zoned for, which determines what the business is allowed to do on the property.

Once at the property, inspectors keep an eye out for repeats of past violations. If cited, inspectors make sure owners are clear on the safety hazard in question. An inspection comes with an initial visit, a final visit, and a reinspection, each 35 days apart. If by the reinspection the business owners haven’t addressed the problems, Lee said a fine is attached to each violation and sent to court.

Lee said second visits are wrapping up, meaning reinspections aren’t due for about another month. The department does not have the total number of citations yet.

People like Otto Sanchez, director of operations at the scrapyard S.D. Richman Sons in Port Richmond, welcome the annual inspection, which he thinks would help an industry that has made headlines for fires and being bad neighbors to residents, leaving junk and broken-down cars in residential areas.

“It’s human nature,” said Sanchez, who let The Inquirer follow an inspection simulation with Lee. “If you can cut corners, you’re going to cut corners.”

But Sanchez would rather not take any chances, recalling a fire that broke out on the property a year ago. He knows what Lee is going to ask about next, whether it’s about required property fencing or inspection tags on fire extinguishers.

Sanchez said bad actors vilify scrapyards, which are easy to hate because they’re homes to, well, piles of junk. But in a city where illegal dumping is a known nuisance, he feels his services serve a purpose.

As Lee looks for “waste oil” and “flammable” labels throughout the site and makes sure piles of shredded material and heavy steel have 15 feet between them for fire truck access, Sanchez shows off safety measures the business has taken.

“You gotta take pride in your work,” he said. “The last thing we want as a company is for people to be injured.”