Allegedly improper interstate shipment of hazardous waste - including thousands of gallons of paint thinner sent from California to two Utah disposal sites - has resulted in a settlement of nearly a quarter-million dollars.
DICO Inc. of Corona, Calif., agreed to a consent decree in a case filed before an administrative law judge in Washington, D.C., said Ann Umphres, the Environmental Protection Agency's assistant regional council for this region. Umphres, based in Denver, was the EPA's attorney in the case.Under the agreement, DICO will pay $247,500 for claims that it improperly shipped paint thinner from California to facilities in Utah and Wyoming. The facilities were the now-defunct Ekotek refinery in Salt Lake City, Desert Oil in Roosevelt, and Mountaineer Reinfery Co. of La Barge, Wyo.
Violations claimed were eight counts of improper information in shipping manifests, four counts of improper disposal and six counts of illegal land disposal. The waste was spent solvents used for cleaning or painting equipment.
The allegations cover the period 1986-89.
"There were four shipments of hazardous waste to Ekotek in Salt Lake City," Umphres said. They totaled 2,510 gallons, she said.
The Ekotek site "did have a permit from the state of Utah, but it was limited in scope. So there is some question whether they could legally accept this waste."
The manifest said the material was in the classification of "waste oil not otherwise specified," while it actually was solvent, she said.
When a mainfest is incorrect, it "means that the facility may not know what they're getting" at the disposal site. "They may mix it with the wrong things . . . People can get exposed unknowingly."
Also, shippers are required to tell the receiving facility if the material cannot legally be disposed in landfills, and to identify the correct disposal method. The EPA said DICO did not do this with shipments to Ekotek.