09/18/2013
(Seattle—Sept 18, 2013) Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage failed to comply with federal hazardous waste management laws and has agreed to pay a fine to resolve the violations, according to a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The base has taken action to correct the violations and will pay a fine of over $21,000.
“Careful hazardous waste management protects human lives and the environment, and it also prevents the public from having to fund costly cleanup operations,” said Scott Downey, Manager of the Hazardous Waste Compliance Unit at the EPA Seattle office. “Facilities have to inspect hazardous waste storage and keep staff up to date on training to prevent incidents.”
The facility generates and stores hazardous waste from vehicles, aircraft and other facility maintenance. This includes acids, contaminated soils, batteries, PCB wastes, solvents, used oil and pesticides.
EPA inspections found a series of violations from 2010-2011, including
- Failure to conduct weekly inspections of hazardous waste facilities and containers for leakage or deterioration;
- Failure to ensure staff participated in annual hazardous waste management training; and
- Failure to submit hazardous waste tracking reports.
The violations occurred under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Hazardous waste personnel training required for large quantity generators of hazardous waste at 40 CFR 262.34(a)(4) and explained in 40
CFR 265.16 would have prevented these violations from happening.
Contact me to provide you with high-quality hazardous waste personnel training (aka: RCRA Training) before you become the subject of a news release like this one.