YORK COUNTY, Pa. — A lawsuit against a York County business claims it needs to be shut down before someone gets killed.
Spring Garden Township filed the lawsuit against J&K Salvage yard, located on Kings Mill Rd., and wants the court to at least shut down the yard's shredding machine for the time being.
Residents have complained of the business causing "explosion-like" noises and causing metal to fall near their homes.
Some residents say it sounds like you’re in the middle of a war zone and a bomb is dropping.
Melissa Yakim moved into her Spring Garden Township townhouse in 2014 and not even two weeks later, she started hearing loud noises coming from J&K Salvage.
“It’s like 'kaboom'. I can’t explain it," said Melissa Yakim, a resident of Spring Garden Township.
She said it would sometimes happen daily, every other day, and even two times a day.
"I think I started counting them in 2017 or 18 and in a year-and-a-half time, I think I had 145 counted," said Yakim.
She started calling 911 and sending reports to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection every time it would happen.
“We need to have our neighborhoods safe, it’s not fair to us, it’s not fair to the residents in this neighborhood," explained Yakim.
Aside from the explosive noise that they heard, some residents have also reported about pieces of metal hitting their home.
“If that piece of metal, instead of making it across the road and going into a house, if a piece of that metal hits a school bus or a person walking or somebody at York County Day School, in the soccer field... They’re not going to survive that," said Yakim.
In a lawsuit filed by Spring Garden Township, a judge is being asked to order the business to close operations of its shredder until changes are made.
The lawsuit contains dozens of statements and evidence of the damage to the nearby homes by the business.
A woman who lives on Rannoch Ln., right behind J&K Salvage, says she had a piece of metal get into her home.
“It went through my roof, through my room and it landed in my daughter’s room," said a women who wanted to remain anonymous.
She also says that her backyard is filled with metal from the salvage yard.
“Everything that explodes goes into my backyard. Everything," the woman said.
Residents say they feel happy that finally something being done.
“I feel elated that the township is now doing something," said Yakim.
Their intention is not to put anyone out of business.
“If you're going to run a business, then run it safely," said Yakim.
J&K Salvage and the lawyer representing the township did not wish to comment.