Resale Company Cited $98,520 for Improper Hazwaste Storage, More
Recovery Management Corp. Inc., owner of the Cargo Largo retail store in Independence, Mo., has agreed to pay a $98,520 civil penalty to the United States to settle allegations related to the storage, treatment, and shipment of hazardous wastes.
Recovery Management Corp. buys abandoned, unclaimed and/or damaged goods and merchandise from commercial shipping companies and resells them through its Cargo Largo retail outlet and through other means.
According to a consent agreement and final order filed in Kansas City, Kan., EPA Region 7 conducted an inspection of the company’s Independence warehouse in July and August 2008 to determine its compliance with the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). That inspection noted several alleged violations of RCRA at the warehouse location:
- Storage of waste pharmaceuticals, including hazardous wastes, without a proper permit.
- Unpermitted treatment of hazardous wastes, including allowing the evaporation of solvents from contaminated rags, and the crushing of mercury-containing lamps into a drum, which exposed employees to hazardous solvent fumes and mercury vapors.
- Shipment of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals to a medical waste disposal facility instead of a hazardous waste disposal facility.
- Shipment of hazardous waste solvent rags to a solid waste landfill instead of a hazardous waste disposal facility.
- Offering hazardous wastes for disposal without accompanying shipment manifests. Such manifests are required to help emergency responders know how to properly address accidents that may occur in transit.
The consent agreement requires Recovery Management Corp. to perform hazardous waste determinations on all of its solid waste streams. The company must also take steps to prevent its suppliers from sending hazardous wastes to the company’s facility, and develop procedures for identifying and immediately disposing of potentially hazardous materials that it inadvertently receives.