Owner of closed Atlantic recycling operation fined $150K

A former Atlantic vehicle parts recycler has been ordered to pay another $50,000 for environmental violations.

District Court Judge Jeffrey Larson ruled that Jason Wright is liable for future cleanup costs and will be in contempt if he violates a court order.

Larson already had fined Wright’s business, Recycling Services LLC, $100,000. Violations included petroleum pollution, contaminated runoff, abandoned gas tanks and various wastes piled 15 feet high.

Wright closed the business in 2016. State environmental officials ordered him to cleanup the site and pay a $7,000 fine. He didn’t.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources filed a lawsuit last year, determining that Wright had been in violation of an administrative order for 850 days. Under state law, he could have been fined as much as $4.25 million.