BOSTON -- A team of city inspectors swarmed into a Boston neighborhood Thursday, where residents are fed up with businesses that they say are turning their community into a junkyard.

Mamie Hanberry lives around the corner from New England Avenue -- a Dorchester street that has five auto body shops.

VIDEO: City Cracks Down In Dorchester

Some nearby residents said that they are thrilled that a city strike force is doing a sweep. One business was temporarily closed down, while the others were forced to clean up the junk.

Delta Auto is littered with vehicles. They're a fire hazard -- a hindrance to emergency apparatus. The owner was fined.

"We found several 55-gallon drums of leaking waste oil. We found, literally, over 100 batteries -- some of them leaking, as well," said Jack Tracy, of the Boston Environmental Strike Team. "We have hundreds of tires."

Neighbors said the daily paint fumes make the air toxic.

"We'd be out here, and a lot of times I have to go into the house because I can't stand the fumes," Hanberry said.

Mechanics pleaded with Boston police and inspectional services not to tow cars.

"It's not fair. Where can we park the car? It's not good for business," said Shiller St. Natus, of SNJ Auto.

The governor's auto task force will be following up, checking for stolen and stashed vehicles on the premises. Failure to correct permitting issues could close the garage doors for more mechanics down the road.