WEST PARIS — A small group of residents voiced concerns about the health and safety risks posed by a scrapyard in town during a public hearing Thursday evening. 

Automobile Graveyard/Junkyard permits for West Paris Metals on Maple Street and Mason Restoration and Auto Parts on Briggs Street are up for renewal.

Selectmen will personally review the two sites before making a decision on the permit applications at their next meeting, Oct. 24. 

Only seven residents, including the owners of the two junkyards, attended the public hearing, which lasted about 45 minutes. 

Shirley and Joe Newbert, who live on a dead end street next door to West Paris Metals, said they were concerned with safety issues at the scrapyard, especially after a large fire at the site in August.

More than 40 scrapped cars were immolated when the blaze raced through the yard on Aug. 19. The fire was caused from sparks from an employee cutting automobile parts with a saw.

“The safety issues have got to be addressed for the protection of everyone,” Joe Newbert said. 

Although the Newberts have been clashing with West Paris Metals owner Ernie Yap for years, the size of the August fire showed how serious the safety issues were, Joe Newbert pointed out. 

“If it had been a normal, dry summer it would have been devastating,” he said. 

Board of Selectmen Chairman Dennis Henderson said that repeated inspections of West Paris Metals by the selectmen and Fire Chief Norm St. Pierre showed Yap had conformed to the safety requirements the board gave him following the fire. 

“We’re going to monitor it and it will be well documented,” Henderson told the Newberts.

Shirley Newbert said the number of cars parked along the road near their house — despite “no parking” signs — and speeding by a handful drivers leaving the scrapyard was a hazard. The couple has been trying to get the parking and vehicle traffic issue worked out with Yap for years, she said.

“Nobody else has to put up with it, so nobody knows what it’s like,” Shirley Newbert said. “If I could, I’d sell and get out of there; it’s that miserable.”

For his part, Yap said the August fire was a “fluke” accident and he was making sure that safety measures were being taken seriously at the yard. 

Maine Department of Environmental Protection inspected his site following the fire and found no problems with hazardous materials or liquids, he said. 

He told the Newberts that he was doing his best to monitor the drivers and would try to address their concerns. 

“I’ve tried to be the best neighbor I can,” Yap said. 

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