A Cedar Falls, Iowa, man was sentenced to two years in federal prison and ordered to pay $789,138 in restitution after storing hazardous waste at his former electroplating business, a report by The Gazette says. He pleaded guilty to unlawfully storing hazardous waste in August.
According to the report, Richard Delp didn’t have a permit to treat, store or dispose of hazardous waste at Cedar Valley Electroplating. While in operation, the business produced more than 1,000 kilograms of hazardous waste per month, the report says, including raw steel, zinc plating solution, chromate solutions, acids and caustic soda.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inspected the facility in 2005 and 2010, the report says, and found the illegally stored waste. In 2010, the EPA issued a notice to Delp for failing to perform hazardous waste determinations on the materials.
Delp closed the facility in 2011, the report says, and left process chemicals and waste in and around the facility. The Decar Falls Fire Department ordered Delp to move the white plastic tanks containing caustic or acid compounds from inside and around the building so avoid leaking into the surrounding environment, according to the report, but stains underneath the tanks showed it was too late.
According to the report, the EPA executed a federal search warrant of the site in 2012 and found totes, tanks, drums and other containers that were unlabeled and leaking containing hazardous materials. The EPA collected 20 chemical samples, 18 of which showed characteristics for corrosiveness and nine of which were considered toxic. On-site cleanup work costed more than $789,138, the report says.
Delp is ordered to pay restitution to the EPA’s Superfund, the report says.
According to the report, Richard Delp didn’t have a permit to treat, store or dispose of hazardous waste at Cedar Valley Electroplating. While in operation, the business produced more than 1,000 kilograms of hazardous waste per month, the report says, including raw steel, zinc plating solution, chromate solutions, acids and caustic soda.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inspected the facility in 2005 and 2010, the report says, and found the illegally stored waste. In 2010, the EPA issued a notice to Delp for failing to perform hazardous waste determinations on the materials.
Delp closed the facility in 2011, the report says, and left process chemicals and waste in and around the facility. The Decar Falls Fire Department ordered Delp to move the white plastic tanks containing caustic or acid compounds from inside and around the building so avoid leaking into the surrounding environment, according to the report, but stains underneath the tanks showed it was too late.
According to the report, the EPA executed a federal search warrant of the site in 2012 and found totes, tanks, drums and other containers that were unlabeled and leaking containing hazardous materials. The EPA collected 20 chemical samples, 18 of which showed characteristics for corrosiveness and nine of which were considered toxic. On-site cleanup work costed more than $789,138, the report says.
Delp is ordered to pay restitution to the EPA’s Superfund, the report says.
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