NAPA Auto Parts and shopping plaza to be demolished

Jun 03, 2023

LEWISBURG — A demolition permit was issued for the former NAPA Auto Parts store and plaza along Route 15.

Central Keystone Council of Governments issued the permit to the owners on May 4. The property, located at 26 N. Derr Drive, Lewisburg, is also being monitored by the state Department of Environmental Protection due to chlorinated solvents associated with dry-cleaning.

The property is the former home for NAPA, Larry’s Pizza and Subs and Puff’s Discount Tobacco. The owners are Genuine Parts Company, 2999 Wildwood Parkway, Atlanta.

The cost of demolition is estimated at $175,000. The permitting fee is $200, according to the council.

A chain-link fence sits around the property with several signs indicating it is an “active demo site.”

Lewisburg Borough Manager William Lowethert said the borough has not received any land development plans yet. He has not heard of any rumors either. The council also has no information on this.

Megan Lehman, the regional communications manager for the Northcentral Regional Office of the state Department of Environmental Protection, said the site is the former location of Lewisburg Cleaners, a dry cleaner whose operations resulted in environmental contamination.

“DEP’s history with the site goes back to at least 1989 when the dry cleaner ceased operations,” said Lehman. “DEP conducted a Hazardous Sites Cleanup Act (HSCA) investigation and removed a number of underground storage tanks in the 1990s. The investigation resulted in the discovery that chlorinated solvents associated with the dry-cleaning operation had contaminated the groundwater.”

More recently, DEP has been working with the owner of the former NAPA facility, Genuine Parts Company, as a responsible party to perform groundwater remediation for the contamination, said Lehman.

“DEP’s Environmental Cleanup and Brownfields Program is not aware of who the current owners are, but we are working with the responsible party as they continue to perform cleanup at the site,” said Lehman. “The responsible party is required to continue remediation efforts until they can demonstrate that an Act 2 cleanup standard for groundwater has been met for the site.”

There is no prescribed timeframe or deadline, said Lehman.