EMELLE, ALABAMA
In January 1984, the EPA charged Waste Management with thirty-eight counts of improper disposal of highly toxic polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) chemicals. Later that year, traces of PCB were found in a drainage ditch and swamp located outside the landfill. Well test samples indicated there had been chemical migration from the landfill into local water supplies. Six months later, laboratory tests indicated that dioxin, a highly toxic chemical, was present in the site at unacceptable levels.
At the end of 1984, the EPA entered into a consent decree
with Waste Management which included fines of 5600,000 for improper handling
and storage of PCB. During April 1985, a fire at the Emelle site required the
evacuation of all personnel from the area.
Later that year, a pipe failure caused over a quarter of a million gallons of
liquid waste to flow onto adjacent properties. In 1987, the landfill emitted
a chemical cloud which caused headaches and eye irritations to the adjoining
residents.
Waste Management, Inc., has been awarded several major cleanup contracts
under federal Superfund legislation, including those from the Department of
Defense. In 1983, the company certified to the Pentagon that all hazardous
DDT military waste entrusted to it had been incinerated; when, in fact, an
undetermined amount of the DDT waste had been mixed with 250,000 gallons of
other toxic chemicals at the Emelle, Alabama, disposal site.
KETTLEMAN HILLS, CALIFORNIA
In 1985, the EPA and Waste Management agreed to a consent decree involving
fines of $4 million stemming from the mishandling of hazardous waste,
including PCB.
Since March 1988, a number of problems have occurred at the Kettleman Hills
landfill. The integrity of the hazardous waste site was breached when a
landslide surged forward and downslope, tearing out part of the liner system
and displacing waste deposited. at the site.
In July 1989, Chemical Waste filed a lawsuit against Encom Associates of San
Jose, charging that the accident was caused by design failure. Encom designed
the facility's plans and specifications, including depth, degree of slope,
waste capacity and operational requirements. An independent investigation of
the accident concluded that the slide was caused by incorrect fill
configuration. In reply to this allegation, Encom's president, Thorley
Briggs, stated the company did not accept any liability for the accident or
admit any negligence or guilt and added, "This is a very complicated
technical issue and frankly no one is quite sure what happened."
While the accident caused no injuries or environmental damage, the EPA has
ordered Chemical Waste to suspend operations, excavate more than one million
cubic yards of waste, and repair the liner system before operations can
resume. Encom Associates agreed to a $5 million settlement with Chemical
Waste Management, Inc. Grundle Lining Systems, Inc., of Houston, Texas
(manufacturer and installer of the liner) agreed to pay Chemical Waste an
undisclosed amount.
The California Department of Health Services imposed a fine of $363,000
against Chemical Waste Management, Inc., for violations in the manner in
which it operated its Kettleman Hills facility. The fine was imposed for
eleven administrative and operational violations in the operation of its
hazardous waste landfill.
During 1988, the company was assessed a fine of $80,000 in connection with a fire at the landfill.
During 1984, the EPA fined Chemical Waste Management $2.5 million for a total
of 130 violations at the Kettleman Hills landfill. Among other incidents, the
EPA charged the company had allowed leaks from the landfill to contaminate
local water supplies.
A lawsuit has been filed against Chemical Waste Management, Inc., alleging
civil rights violations in its attempts to install and operate a toxic waste
incinerator at its Kettleman Hills facility. The suit alleges Chemical Waste
Management made a pattern of singling out poor, minority-populated communities
as incinerator sites. Another tactic that WMI pioneered was to offer communities a part of the
profits --perhaps 1% of their revenues from a facility, which can add up to a
substantial sum. Because landfills are often located in poor communities,
such an offer would dazzle local politicians struggling to pay for public
services. Furthermore, such an offer would gain the support of property
owners in the community because it promised an alternative source of revenue
besides the property tax.
KIRBY CANYON, CALIFORNIA
The bitterly opposed Kirby Canyon land-landfill in Santa Clara County,
California, was leaking diclxloroethane, trichloroethane, and Freon 12.
It was predicted, and it happened/' says Bruce 'lkhinin, local attorney and
landfall opponent.
The state of the art land-landfill was not supposed to leak,
and officials could not explain how the toxic chemicals had gotten 100 feet
past the earthen dam intended to stop leachate.
Steven Ritchie, Executive Director of the state lagoon Water Quality Control
Board, said ''It appears as though leachate is leaking from the landfall into the
groundwater.'
Pat Ferraro, a member of the Santa Clara Valley Water District board of
directors, said, ''It was the craziest thing in the world to
build near our largest reservoir and between two groundwater basins.
There Is no such thing as a landfall that doesn't leak.
The leak threatens the Santa Clara Valley Water District recharge area
1989
The potential listing of the Bay Checkerspot butterfly as an endangered
species threatens to block Mrs Kirby Canyon landfill expansion plans.
WMI invites a local biologist to the site.
later, the ADA Journal reports that WMI has ken debiting $50,000 annually in
the Kirby Canyon Habitat Test Fund.
'As a result, WMI of California has not only been able to proceed with its
landfill operations in Kirby Canyon, but has received considerable favorable
publicity as an ecology-minded company as we1l,'' including an
Environmental Preservation Award from Stanford University's Center for
Conservation Biology ''for exceptional contributionto biological diversity.''
WMI expansion covers 15 percent of the butterfly's habitat, despite
the prediction by Stanford scientists that ''the remaining San Mateo Bay
Checkerspot buttefly population has a doubtful prognosis for long-term
survival.''
The landfill also occupies the habitats of the imperiled red-legged frog and
the Mount Hampton thistle. WMI claims it has adopted a corporate policy of
''no net loss'' of biological diversity. The Bay Checkerspot butterfly has
'come the local subsidiary's mascot.
WMI also flew prominent citizens from Portland, Oregon, to San Jose
to showcase the Kirby Canyon landfall and win a $360 million, a-year
Portland transfer station contract.
In the winter 1988 issue of Wilderness magazine, WMI ran an advertisement claiming ''we Profit By Protecting The Environment'' referring
to the Kirby Canyon landfill. By the time the advertisement ran, leaks
from the ''state-of-the-ad'' land-landfill had begun to contaminate
groundwater at the site, with waste escaping past the retaining wall that was supposed
to trap the leachate.
The California Regional Water Quality Board notified WMI on October 3, 1988
that the landfill leachate and a groundwater monitoring well both indicate
the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as Freon 12,
l,l,l-tricholoroethane, and 1,1,-dichororoethance.
ILLINOIS
During 1983, Chemical Waste Management was subject to a $2.2 million suit
filed by the Illinois Attorney General for violations of environmental laws
at its CID Landfill located at Calumet City, Illinois.
The EPA fined Waste Management, Inc., $37,250 in penalties for environmental
violations at the hazardous waste dump located near Joliet, Illinois. The EPA
cited Waste Management for failure to provide the agency with adequate
information on ground water monitoring and waste treatment activities at the
site. An EPA statement said Waste Management has "violated Federal Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act regulations regarding the management of
hazardous waste."
The EPA proposed a $22,800 fine against SCA Chemical Services, Inc.
(a subsidiary of Waste Management, Inc.). The EPA charged in its complaint
that SCA Chemical Services failed to follow regulations to undertake a more
aggressive monitoring program to learn the type and amount of chemicals
located at its facility in Chicago. SCA Chemical Services was alleged to
have operated a toxic waste incinerator without having checked for ground
water contamination after indications of chemical seepage. Under regulations
of the Federal Resources Conservation and Recovery Act, SCA Chemical Services
was required to check monitoring wells for seepage from four ponds located
at the site. Samples taken from the wells in July 1986 showed contamination.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency filed a suit to temporarily shut
down the SCA Chemical Services, Inc.'s, southeast Chicago, toxic waste
incinerator for environmental control irregularities. It was alleged that air
monitoring devices at SCA were disconnected at least four times during 1986
and 1987 and that chemical waste containing toxic PCB was fed into the
incinerator at rates 30 percent higher than allowed under state and federal
permits.
Chemical Waste Management, Inc., (the parent company of Trade Waste
Incineration, located in Sauget, Illinois) agreed to pay a $250,000 penalty
to the State of Illinois and make payment of $30,000 to Illinois' hazardous
waste fund instead of fighting a suit alleging that the company was in
violation of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act. Trade Waste was acquired by Chemical Waste Management, Inc., in 1983. It has four incinerators used to destroy industrial and institutional hazardous waste. It was alleged that the company failed to properly monitor its incineration process and that as a result hazardous wastes were emitted into the air. In addition to paying the fines, the disposal company agreed to make improvements in its operating procedures.
Chemical Waste Management's incinerator No. 4, located at Sauget, failed test
burns conducted during 1990. The unit was issued a permit in 1988 by the
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency on the condition that such test
burns occur prior to its full operation. Due to these failures of the
facility to pass the test burns, the company faced significant delays in
obtaining applications for two hazardous waste incinerators to be located in
Niagara County, New York.
Mayor William Ottilye of Geneva, Illinois, asked the Geneva City Attorney to
investigate the possibility of filing a complaint with the Illinois
Environmental Protection Agency against the Settler's Hill disposal facility
(operated by Waste Management, Inc.). The residents had complained, over a
period of months, about the odors emanating from the disposal site.
Those complaints resulted in a shut down of the operation for a short time
during 1990 and officials of Waste Management, Inc., vowed to address the
problem. A company spokeswoman stated that the firm had temporarily closed
the facility it operated near Grayslake because of complaints about the odor,
but stated the company would be seeking a Lake County permit to resume
operations as a compost facility.
According to the January 19, 1990, issue of the Belleview News Democrat, a
spokesman for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency had stated that a
chemical cloud released at Trade West Incineration, Inc., could have
endangered people if it had floated over a populated area. The cloud was
organic acid created from a chemical reaction in a machine used to blend
waste products before they are burned. The company claimed the cloud was
harmless; however, 70 employees were evacuated from the site. The company
faces a maximum fine of $10,000 for the release of the chemical into the
environment.
Under a settlement announced by the EPA, Chemical Waste Management will pay a
record $3.75 million fine for pollution violations at its hazardous waste
incinerator located on the south side of Chicago. The EPA called it the
largest administrative penalty ever imposed on a single facility in EPA
history. The fine stems from agency investigations of a whistle-blower's
charges that during 1987 employees disconnected air pollution monitors while
overloading the incinerator with highly toxic PCB. The EPA originally
proposed a $4.47 million fine for the monitor tampering last year, and
Chemical Waste Management chose to appeal. Under the settlement, the company
will drop its appeal and pay the reduced fine, but does not have to admit
any wrong doing at the plant.
KANSAS
During 1982, the Kansas Department of Environmental Health shut down the
Waste Management disposal site at Furley, Kansas, (near Wichita), when toxic
chemicals were found to have leaked into ground water.
NEW YORK
In 1988, Chemical Waste Management was facing up to $1.3 million in EPA
fines for failing to comply with PCB handling regulations. The EPA said that
the company was in violation for not testing every truckload of PCB tainted
sludge that came into the Porter, New York, disposal facility from February
to June 1985. A fine of $25,000 a day for 48 days during the four month
period was being assessed. The company also faced fines of $85,000 for a
series of separate, lesser violations during 1985 and 1986. Those violations
also arose as a result of failure to comply with federal regulations for
handling PCB.
Chemical Waste Management was fined $1.32 million by the EPA for violations
in its operation of a PCB Detoxification Unit at its Model City toxic waste
disposal plant in Niagara County. Daniel Kraft, Chief of the EPA's Toxic
Substances Section, said that the $1.32 million fine stemmed from Chemical
Waste Management's 1985 purchase of a mobile unit from Accurex Waste
Technologies designed to dechlorinate the PCB. Kraft stated that when
Chemical Waste Management applied to have the unit transferred from Accurex
to Chemical Waste Management, they did not notify the officials that the unit
had undergone "major modification."
Initially, the EPA proposed a fine of $890,000; however, on June 18, 1990,
the penalty was raised to $1.32 million, after determining that the unit had
been in use for a longer time than first reported.
During 1991, the communities of Lewiston, Porter, and Niagara County,
New York, filed suit to intervene in a lawsuit between National Solid Waste
Association and Chemical Waste Management, Inc., regarding the disposal of
hazardous waste at Chemical Waste Management's No.12 landfill in Porter. The
communities and other environmental groups were opposed to the disposal of
hazardous waste imported from other jurisdictions for disposal at a landfill
they claimed was suffering from leaks and problems with its leak detection
system.
Chemical Waste Management faces fines of $7 million by the EPA stemming from
charges that it was involved in improperly disposing of PCB contaminated
sludge at its Model City plant in Niagara County, New York. The EPA complaint
alleges that General Motors shipped 31,000 tons of the contaminated sludge
between February 1, 1984, through August 15,1987. Of that total, 10,000 tons
went to Chemical Waste Management for disposal of which 2,500 tons were
shipped to Chemical Waste Management's facility in Emelle, Alabama.
General Motors and Cecos International were also charged in the complaint.
OHIO
Chemical Waste Management's site at Vickery, Ohio, has given rise to a number
of actions brought by the EPA and the Ohio Attorney General's Office.
During 1983, the EPA charged the company with numerous violations of permits
related to the handling of hazardous waste. The charges included selling home
heating oil contaminated with PCB and dioxin. During 1984, the Ohio Attorney
General's Office and Chemical Waste Management entered' into a stipulated
settlement whereby the company agreed to pay fines and assessments amounting
to $10 million. During 1985, the EPA brought actions against Chemical Waste
Management alleging violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act and the
Resources Conservation Recovery Act and sought fines in the amount of $6.8
million. However, later that year, Chemical Waste Management agreed to pay a
penalty of $2.5 million to settle the suits. Since 1985, Chemical Waste
Management has been cited for a number of other violations occurring at the
Vickery site. The most recent violation arising in 1988 involves fines that
may total as much as $2 million.
OREGON
Chemical Waste Management operates a hazardous waste disposal site at
Arlington, Oregon. During 1985, the company was fined $360,000 by the EPA for
failing to keep proper records of what types of waste were received at the
dump. The settlement also' involved a $250,000 donation by the company to the
Oregon Environmental Fund.
TEXAS
Chemical Waste Management operated a chemical waste dump at Port Arthur,
Texas. During 1985, the State of Texas imposed a $1 million fine for
operations which included violations for an improper collection system and
inadequate ground water monitoring.
WISCONSIN
During 1986, the Wisconsin Attorney General filed suit against Waste
Management, Inc., and Waste Management of Wisconsin alleging that the
companies failed to comply with rules and regulations for the operation of
their landfill known as Omega Hills North. The complaint alleged that nearby
ground water had been contaminated by hazardous materials leaking from the
landfill and that the company had a deficient ground water monitoring
program.
In April 1989, Waste Management, Inc., and its subsidiary entered
into a stipulated judgment with Wisconsin wherein they agreed to pay fines
in the amount of $800,000. This was the largest fine payment ever made in an
environmental lawsuit in the State of Wisconsin
MEXICO
Chemical Waste Management, Inc., owns a $20 million incineration plant,
Tratamientos Industriales Tijuana Internacional, S.A., located approximately
five miles south of the international boundary on the Pacific coast near
Tijuana. Despite company ,assurances to the contrary, local and national
environmental groups have expressed concern over the manner in which the
plant may be operated and the threat that it poses to the environment.
CANADA
Waste Management, Inc., lost a $28 million recycling contract in Vancouver
due to its record of convictions.
