New Hampshire metal recycler fined $2.7M for improper waste disposal

New England Metal Recycling Inc., Madbury, New Hampshire, has been fined nearly $3 million for improperly disposing of hazardous waste on its site, the New Hampshire attorney general’s office said.

As reported by the Insurance Journal, the $2.7 million fine is the largest the state has issued for a hazardous waste violation and will be put into the state’s Hazardous Waste Fund.

The settlement with New England Metal Recycling Inc. follows actions that it failed to properly dispose of materials described as auto shredder residue.

It buried about 20,000 cubic yards of the material on its site after telling the state it had taken it to a landfill, the attorney general’s office said. The state found the material during a subsequent inspection and determined some qualified as hazardous waste. The facility lacked measures to contain the material, some of which migrated to groundwater and damaged Dover’s water supply, the state found.

A previous owner of the facility, Madbury Metals, unlawfully disposed of similar material at the site during the 1980’s, resulting in significant remediation efforts, the attorney general’s office said. Madbury Metals ceased operation in 1996.