The Department of Environmental Conservation filed the action Thursday in state Supreme Court in Mayville against 846 East 2nd Street Inc., 846 East 2nd St. Inc., 846 2nd St., 846 E. 2nd Street Inc. and Abdulla Abuhamra. While the property has become an eyesore of the years, the DEC is concerned with petroleum bulk storage facilities underground at the site. The DEC is asking the court to enforce the terms of a Feb. 14, 2024, DEC order addressing violations of those regulations at the 846 E. Second St. location. The DEC alleges the company hasn’t submitted an application to transfer the petroleum bulk storage registration for the facility within 30 days of a transfer of the facility’s ownership as well as not disclosing three bulk storage tanks at the site with a total capacity of 30,000 gallons that had been out of service for more than 12 months. The DEC also assessed a $7,200 civil penalty against 846 E. Second St. and ordered the violations to be remedied.

The order was sent by certified mail to Abuhamra, according to the DEC’s court filing, but the letters sent to the Lackawanna address associated with 842 E. 2nd St. Inc. were returned as undeliverable while the company also has not filed a Certificate of Incorporation for the site, though two similarly named corporations named in the lawsuit have done business as 846 E. 2nd Street Inc.

“Defendants have not challenged the commissioner’s order in an Article 78 proceeding, nor have they administratively appealed or sought some other relief from DEC from any of the terms and conditions of the commissioner’s order, and the time to do so has lapsed,” wrote James Doody of the state Attorney General’s Office. “Before initiating this action DEC’s counsel sent defendants 846 E. 2nd St. Inc. and Abdulla Abuhamra a demand letter, dated January 21, 2025, notifying them of their continued noncompliance with the terms and conditions of the commissioners’ order and requesting compliance. As of the filing of this verified complaint, the defendants have not responded to the demand letter.”

The decision by Molly McBride, administrative law judge, filed as an exhibit with the complaint in state Supreme Court states a DEC environmental program specialist visited the site in November 2022 and saw no evidence of

The former Highway Oil station at 846 E. Second St., is pictured. The station has been closed for several years, and now the state DEC is filing court action to require the property’s new owner to close underground gas tanks, register them properly and pay fines to the state. P-J photo by John Whittaker

soil disturbance to indicate tank removal/closure and concluded that the tanks had not been permanently closed. No PBS registration application has been filed and the tanks hadn’t been permanently closed as of Oct. 2, 2023.

In addition to asking the court to require Abuhamra to pay his previous fine, with interest, and remedy the violations at the site, the DEC is asking the state Supreme Court to assess an additional penalty of up to $37,500 a day for each of the ongoing violations of the DEC’s orders.

“According to Department staff, timely submission of an application and closure of tanks are essential to the Department’s mission and the cornerstones of the PBS regulatory scheme,” Administrative Law Judge Molly McBride wrote in her Feb. 2, 2024, decision creating the DEC’s order regarding the 846 E. Second St. site. “Proper filing and tank closure assist the Department in oversight of the regulatory requirements applicable to a facility and aids in the protection of public health and the environment and are critical in the effort to prevent and limit environmental contamination.”