More than 30,000 storm-damaged vehicles parked in an open field have led to concern of environmental damage in Long Island, N.Y.
More than 30 acres of environmentally sensitive land is now a "giant mud hole" due to the damaged cars being stored in groundwater recharge areas, according to a report by Newsday.
"It's been utterly destroyed," said Richard Amper, executive director of Long Island Pine Barrens Society. "And it's going to get worse."
Citing damages to grassland bird habitat, the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation has begun "enforcement action" against the owner of the property where the vehicles are sold.
The land is reportedly identified as a special state groundwater recharge area and a protected species habitat.
"The placement of storm-damaged vehicles on unpaved areas on land owned by Engel-Burman, which is part of the Calverton Camelot industrial subdivision, and the resulting damage to grassland bird habitat is the subject of an ongoing enforcement action brought by DEC against both the property owner, and Co-part, the company directly responsible for placement of the vehicles on the property," DEC official Bill Fonda said in an email, Newsday reported.
An estimated 230,00 cars were damaged or destroyed by superstorm Sandy, making space to store the wrecked vehicles a premium item.
Cars stored on paved lots did not pose any environmental concern, the article said.
Groundwater recharge areas provide water for drinking and irrigation, as well as, play an integral role in the hydrologic cycle.
The organizations responsible for storing the vehicles on the unpaved lot have not commented.
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