Unlicensed work at gas station has some fuming Fire Dept., Board of Health called in after spray painting raises red flag

BLACKSTONE – An auto repair shop on Main Street is under investigation by town health inspectors after neighbors complained of fumes from spray paint and thinner so thick the Blackstone Fire Department had to be called to the scene to set up fans.

In an incident report presented to the selectmen last week, Acting Code Enforcement Officer Colleen M. Strapponi and Board of Health member Kevin J. Ryan said the operator of Prime Energy, a gas station and auto repair shop at 228 Main St., was found to be doing auto body work without a license recently and that fumes from that work were permeating the homes of neighboring residents, including a small substandard apartment above the garage occupied by two men

On the day in question, the operator was painting cars in a small garage with no exhaust filters, which caused a massive build-up toxic fumes that were going through windows and making neighbors sick.

Neighbors called the Fire Department, which arrived on scene to find heavy fumes behind the garage near the railroad tracks.

“We (health board) were were notified and when we arrived the Fire Department had set up fans to dissipate the fumes,” Strapponi told the board.

Strapponi said the operator, a man identified as Sam, had a license to do auto repair, but does not have a license to do body work.

“Not only do they not have a license for auto body work, they aren’t set up for it,” she said.

She said the gas station was ordered shut down for one day pending a re-assessment, but when she and Ryan returned the following morning they found the owner repairing a car.

“He was advised he could no longer repair cars and would have to appear before the Board of Health,” she said.

According to Strapponi, a followup inspection of the property turned up several code violations, including refuse on the property, numerous abandoned cars and a room below the garage that was filled to the brim with car parts and other junk.

But what really surprised officials was the fact that there were two men, including an employee at the shop, who were living in a cramped apartment above the garage. Strapponi said the apartment did not meet code violations for human habitation and was ordered closed. The apartment was also likely im- pacted by the fumes from the body work, which could have seriously sickened the two occupants, she said.

Strapponi says for now the gas station is only allowed to pump gas pending further investigation.

Town health officials met with the property manager last week and efforts have been made to clean up the property up, but it could be months before the apartment is brought up to code.

The gas station has a long history of license violation and was in the process of applying for a Class II license to sell cars before town officials discovered the actual owner of the property had no idea the operator was applying for the license.

“The property owner was not aware of that at all and is not in favor of that on their property,” Strapponi told the selectmen.

Selectmen Chairman Daniel Keefe said problems with the gas station go back several years.

“There have been complaints from neighbors because there are all kinds of activities going on there, all hours of the day,” he said. “It seems like they were shuffling motor vehicles from there to other areas of town in a cat-and-mouse game until a few weeks ago.”

The board will discuss the operator’s license at its next scheduled meeting.