Town still awaiting Bomax cleanup

At Salmon Run Mall’s northern entrance, along Route 12F, is the former Bomax Inc. plant, a decrepit, decaying building. Much to the chagrin of town officials, its numerous overhead doors and windows stand open, allowing vagrants, wildlife and curious passers-by to enter the site.

Owner P.J. Simao scooped up the property for $1,000 at a court-ordered foreclosure sale in 2007 but has done little with it since then, despite urging by town officials to seal off building entrances and clean up the site.

Mr. Simao said the property’s inclusion on the state’s list of inactive hazardous-waste disposal sites leaves him handcuffed, since any changes require approval from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

“Right now, it’s in the hands of the lawyers,” Mr. Simao said. “The lawyers are working with the proper agencies with those things.”

DEC Region 6 spokesman Stephen W. Litwhiler confirmed that any action on the property must be approved by the agency — but, he added, it’s been more than a year since anyone representing Mr. Simao has contacted the department about the matter.

“Basically they have to provide us assurances that what they have planned is not going to negatively affect the environment or public health,” Mr. Litwhiler wrote in an e-mail. “Each time they contact us, we have to remind them of the additional sampling and operational plans which need to be provided to us before they do any change of use of the site.”

When the town last corresponded with Mr. Simao about the property, he responded that “he was making plans to secure the permits to have the property cleaned up,” said town of Watertown Supervisor Joel R. Bartlett. That was in the fall.

“Our position is it’s the spring, so there’s easier access to the building to make sure it’s secured,” Mr. Bartlett said.

The town has ways to ramp up the pressure to ensure action is taken soon.

The municipality could board up the numerous doors and broken windows and bill Mr. Simao for the work.

“We’re working on it. We have some appointments set up with the town attorney to pursue whatever course of action is necessary to get that site at least secured,” Mr. Bartlett said. “We’ve had several complaints about it. It’s an eyesore and an embarrassment.”

Mr. Simao offered a similar assessment of the building. “It looks awful,” he said. “You get off the highway and right there are those buildings: ‘Welcome to the town of Watertown, here’s the view.’”

It was unclear whether the town has cited Mr. Simao for the building’s present condition. The town code enforcement officer was not at work Friday.

Bomax, a manufacturer of small motors, employed about 50 workers when it closed the facility in 2004. In the early 1990s, chlorinated solvents used to clean motors were found by the state in the soil and groundwater. The chemicals were dumped into the plant’s septic tank through floor drains, then leaked into the surrounding soil, according to the DEC’s Web site.