Target Corp. has agreed to pay $22.5 million to settle a multiyear government investigation into the alleged dumping of hazardous waste by the retail chain.
I previously posted about how lenders frequently overlook environmental compliance for retail or commercial properties on my EDR Schnapf Judgment blog. See http://commonground.edrnet.com/posts/ba6464cfa8, http://commonground.edrnet.com/posts/899933f985, http://commonground.edrnet.com/posts/0e841cd373
The violations identified by prosecutors included improper storage, transportation and disposal of bleach, paint, pesticides, batteries, lightbulbs and other hazardous materials. Prosecutors accused the company of cutting corners for the bottom line. Chemicals returned by customers or found to be defective were poured down the drain, tossed into dumpsters and trucked to landfills not equipped for hazardous waste. Stores also kept incompatible and combustible liquids like ammonia and bleach side-by-side on shelves and poured them into dumpsters mixed together, creating fire and other safety hazards
As a result of this investigation, prosecutors have launched investigations of other large retailers.
Complete story from LA Times is at: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-target-settlement-20110205,0,7700027.story
Showing posts with label compliance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label compliance. Show all posts
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
NRC Cites Wal-Mart For Improperly Managing Exit Signs
The NRC issued a citation to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for improperly transferring and disposing of thousands of exit signs containing tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. The NRC said that the company had improperly handled 15,000 signs across the country but the most of the violations occurred in so-called "agreement states" that had been delegated authority by NRC. The regulatory action announced by NRC was only for the violations that occurred in the 13 states it has jurisdiction.
The NRC said the improper transfer or disposal of the 2,979 signs and failure to appoint a responsible official were a Severity Level III violation under NRC's enforcement policy that could have resulted in a civil penalty of $369,300. However, the NRC exercised its enforcement discretion and waived the civil penalty based on Wal-Mart's cooperation and prompt corrective actions. The NRC said Wal-Mart informed the NRC in February 2008 that it had lost or could not account for a potentially large number of exit signs. The NRC and agreement state inspectors performed an inspection of Wal-Mart stores in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina and Ohio from December 2008 through January 2009. Wal-Mart performed an inventory of all tritium exit signs at its stores nationwide, remediated contamination from damaged signs at several stores, and subsequently replaced all tritium exit signs with exit signs that do not contain radioactive material.
The exit signs poses little threat to public health and safety. However, the NRC requires proper record-keeping and disposal of the signs because a damaged or broken sign could cause minor radioactive contamination of the immediate vicinity, requiring environmental cleanup.
As a result of the Wal-Mart experience, the NRC issued a demand for information in January to more than 60 organizations and corporations known to possess large quantities of tritium exit signs, requesting information on record-keeping and accounting of the signs.
The exit signs poses little threat to public health and safety. However, the NRC requires proper record-keeping and disposal of the signs because a damaged or broken sign could cause minor radioactive contamination of the immediate vicinity, requiring environmental cleanup.
As a result of the Wal-Mart experience, the NRC issued a demand for information in January to more than 60 organizations and corporations known to possess large quantities of tritium exit signs, requesting information on record-keeping and accounting of the signs.
Retailers Fined for Improper Hazardous Waste Management
Lenders and prospective purchasers usually gloss over environmental compliance of retailers during environmental due diligence. However, two recent California enforcement actions illustrate how businesses that are viewed as environmentally benign can have significant environmental issues.
Last year, K-Mart Corporation agreed to pay the State of California $8.6MM in fines to resolve allegations of improper hazardous waste management. This was followed by the filing of a complaint by California Attorney General Jerry Brown against Target Corporation.
The violations alleged in the Target complaint are quite illuminating both in terms of the nature of the violations and the volume of waste involved. The state charged that approximately 180 locations mishandled "enormous volumes of hazardous materials, including but not limited to bleaches, pool chlorine and acids, pesticides, fertilizers, paints and varnishes, lamp oil and other ignitable liquids, aerosol products, oven cleaners and various cleaning agents, automoticve products and solvents, and other flammable and corrosive materials."
Most of the violations involved disposing these wastes into compactors so that they were disposed at facilities not licensed to receive such wastes. In one instance, the State alleged that 2300 pounds of flammable, toxic or corrosive wastes abd 2250 poubds of aerosol wastes were transported to a regional food bank. Other violations involved failing to comply with hazardous waste housekeeping requirements.
Most of the hazardous materials were meant to be sold to the public in the ordinary course of business. However, they became hazardous waste when they were either rendered unsalable or unusable for their intended use as a result of spillage, expiration of sell-by dates, contamination from other products, damage to containers or labels. Once rendered unsalable or unusable, these products fell within the definition of hazardous waste by being "discarded". The State is seeking injunctive relief and will no doubt demand significant penalties along the lines of the K-Mart settlement.
The violations alleged in the Target complaint are quite illuminating both in terms of the nature of the violations and the volume of waste involved. The state charged that approximately 180 locations mishandled "enormous volumes of hazardous materials, including but not limited to bleaches, pool chlorine and acids, pesticides, fertilizers, paints and varnishes, lamp oil and other ignitable liquids, aerosol products, oven cleaners and various cleaning agents, automoticve products and solvents, and other flammable and corrosive materials."
Most of the violations involved disposing these wastes into compactors so that they were disposed at facilities not licensed to receive such wastes. In one instance, the State alleged that 2300 pounds of flammable, toxic or corrosive wastes abd 2250 poubds of aerosol wastes were transported to a regional food bank. Other violations involved failing to comply with hazardous waste housekeeping requirements.
Most of the hazardous materials were meant to be sold to the public in the ordinary course of business. However, they became hazardous waste when they were either rendered unsalable or unusable for their intended use as a result of spillage, expiration of sell-by dates, contamination from other products, damage to containers or labels. Once rendered unsalable or unusable, these products fell within the definition of hazardous waste by being "discarded". The State is seeking injunctive relief and will no doubt demand significant penalties along the lines of the K-Mart settlement.
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