Clean Harbors agrees to $790,000 fine to resolve hazardous waste case

Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Norwell, Massachusetts, has agreed to a $790,000 fine to resolve allegations that the company violated federal and state environmental laws at its Nebraska incinerator.

As reported by the Omaha World-Herald, the case involves alleged violations dating back years at the Clean Harbors incinerator and hazardous waste storage site at Kimball, one of 13 such facilities in North America.

In a lawsuit that was settled Aug. 31, state and federal environmental regulators say Clean Harbors allowed improper mixing and handling of wastes, deteriorating storage containers, inadequate record-keeping and the release of hazardous air emissions. The agencies also say that Clean Harbors incinerated some hazardous chemicals, such as PCBs and mercury, in greater amounts than the facility is licensed to do.

Regulators say some of these practices resulted in fires, ranging in frequency from less than five per year to 20 in a year in one building, Jonathan Meyer, an attorney for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), told the Omaha World-Herald.

According to the EPA, this is the fourth settlement with Clean Harbors since it began running the incinerator in the Nebraska Panhandle in 1995, and the size of fine is in response to that recurrence. Previous settlements were in 1997, 2004 and 2010.

Meyer said this settlement comes with five years of heightened scrutiny to ensure compliance with the law. It also requires Clean Harbors to bring in an outside environmental auditor to examine its practices and facilities.

Because this is a settlement of a lawsuit and not a verdict, there has been no finding or admission of wrongdoing. Settlements such as these are a common way that allegations of error or wrongdoing are resolved, reports the Omaha World-Herald.