Care Environmental Corp. charged for hazardous materials storage

Care Environmental Corp., a Hackettstown, New Jersey-based hazardous waste collection and disposal corporation, has been sentenced in federal court for violating federal law in its handling of dangerous chemicals at facilities in Valdosta, Georgia, and Lumberton, North Carolina, the Albany Herald reports.

Senior U.S. District Court Judge Hugh Lawson sentenced the company, through its authorized representative Francis J. McKenna Jr., to five years of probation, a $50,000 fine and $135,000 restitution for remediation and cleanup. Care Environmental previously pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly storing carbon disulfide, a hazardous material, without a permit.

According to court documents, Care Environmental leased a warehouse in Valdosta, Georgia, from 2004 to 2019, where the company collected and stored pesticides, poisons, chemicals and other wastes collected from homes and generators throughout the eastern United States.

In December 2018, Care eased receiving materials at the facility pursuant to a voluntary closure and entered into a 12-month plan with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to properly dispose of the hazardous materials stored at the facility. As part of that plan, the company underwent regular inspections of the facility by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). During that time, Care continued to store the waste, including hazardous materials.

An October 2019 inspection of the Valdosta facility found approximately 2,100 55-gallon drums, 200 large totes and two storage tanks containing waste substances. The condition of the warehouse resulted in remediation efforts by the EPA, which included containment and cleanup. Care operated another warehouse facility in Lumberton, North Carolina, that also required remediation and cleanup. The cost of remediation and cleanup for both sites was $134,215.98, according to the report.

“Improperly handling and storing hazardous waste not only violates environmental regulations but places surrounding communities at risk of an accidental release, explosion or worse,” says Charles Carfagno, special agent in charge of EPA Criminal Investigation Division’s regional office in Atlanta. “I hope this sentencing reminds all those that mishandle hazardous waste that EPA and its partners will work to hold wrongdoers accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”