$150,000 Penalty for Regulated Waste Specialist : Stericycle Settles with EPA Over Hazardous Waste Liability Insurance
Illinois based regulated waste collection and disposal firm, Stericycle, has settled with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over a significant hazardous waste liability case against it.
Stericycle, which treats and stores hazardous wastes at facilities in Kent and Tacoma, Washington, has agreed to pay a $150,000 penalty after EPA found that the company violated terms of its waste-handling and storage permit.
The EPA explained that the company failed to maintain a liability insurance policy that would provide adequate coverage to third parties – neighbours – whose health and properties could be harmed by a release of hazardous wastes from the facilities. Stericycle agreed to the settlement without admitting the allegations it contains.
Liability insurance is said to be a particularly important issue in the low-income areas where these types of facilities often operate.
Such insurance is a key component of the overall permitting system, which is intended to ensure the safe operation of commercial hazardous waste handling facilities, where dangerous fires, spills, and other incidents can occur.
EPA found that pay-outs in Stericycle’s policy could have been consumed by legal fees rather than payment to those harmed by such a release.
The agency said that it is looking closely at the liability insurance policies at all hazardous waste handlers in the Pacific Northwest and is working closely with the states’ environmental agencies to ensure these handlers are meeting all their permit obligations.
“Protecting human health and the environment also means ensuring that storing and treating hazardous waste at a commercial level does not harm people or their property,” said EPA Region 10 Office of Compliance and Enforcement Director Ed Kowalski. “Protection – and fairness – dictates that a company must be able to compensate its neighbours if it does them harm.”
Read More
EPA e-Manifest Compliance Advice for Hazardous Waste Producers
The US Environmental Protection Agency’s new e-Manifest is affecting businesses across all industries that generate hazardous waste – from leftover ink at a printer to scrap tires and spent batteries in auto work – and must comply with the ever-changing, complicated requirements for getting rid of the waste they generate.
