Crews from Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) have removed hundreds of tons of waste from a Marion property that had been operating as an illegal wrecking facility.

Last week, the county, courts and DEQ moved to clean the property, although DEQ’s enforcement complaint coordinator told NBC Montana that this is a problem that has been going on for decades. DEQ had learned about the problem from residents’ complaints.

DEQ crews cleaned up more than 350 tons of waste from the property, including vehicles, scrap metal, tires, trash, wood and human waste, NBC Montana reports. The owner of the site, Michael Linstead, owes $60,000 in fines, and DEQ is also trying to recover cleanup costs.

NBC Montana has more information

Hundreds of tons of waste have been removed from a Marion property. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality says the property was operating as an illegal wrecking facility.

The one-acre plot of land is located in the 400 block of Pleasant Valley Road in Marion and owned by Michael Linstead.

“I have never seen anything like this before,” Department of Environmental Quality enforcement complaint coordinator Shasta Steinweden said. “This isn’t something that DEQ usually does. This is a unique situation.”

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