News Release: San Jose Solvent Company Settles Hazardous Waste Case for $850,000

For Immediate Release (C-03-95)
Contact: Communications Office (916) 324-9670
January 27, 1995

555 Capitol Mall, Suite 525
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 324-9670
FAX (916) 445-5563

SACRAMENTO -- California Secretary for Environmental Protection James M. Strock announced today that Solvent Services Co., Inc., has entered into an $850,000 settlement with Cal/EPA's  Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) over the falsification of hundreds of hazardous waste analyses during a two-year period at the  company's San Jose facility.

"Willful violations of our environmental laws, combined with concealment are rightfully subject to the laws' most punitive sanctions. This enforcement action sends a message that such conduct will be dealt with severely," said Strock.

Under the terms of the settlement, Solvent Services will pay a total of $850,000 in quarterly payments over the next two years.  The settlement includes a $700,000 penalty to DTSC and an additional $149,000 as reimbursement for DTSC's inspection and enforcement costs (plus $1,000 in reimbursement to the Western States Hazardous Waste Project).

The settlement stems from a DTSC investigation of the Solvent Services facility in July 1991.  The investigation found that, during the previous two years, the facility had falsified the results of hundreds of analyses of metals in both its incoming and outgoing hazardous waste.  The facility's hazardous waste shipping and notification documents and waste-analysis records contained false information about the metallic content of waste materials.

DTSC concluded the falsifications were intentional.

"Our ability to protect human health and the environment depends on the honest and accurate identification of hazardous waste.  Solvent Services violated this fundamental  commitment on hundreds of occasions and is therefore paying an extremely large penalty," said Strock.

DTSC's investigation found that the misidentified waste was managed properly by other entities after it left the Solvent Services facility.  Other violations found by DTSC and covered in the settlement include lack of adequate quality-control procedures in the facility's waste-analysis program, inadequate operating records, and inadequate labeling of hazardous waste containers.

Solvent Services has corrected the violations cited in the settlement.  The company, located at 1021 Berryessa Road, San Jose, was independently owned at the time of the 1991 investigation but was purchased later that year by United States Pollution Control, Inc.

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