EPA Urges Fine on Westminster Firm
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a $124,500 fine against a Westminster-based company for allegedly mishandling large volumes of a hazardous compound at its storage plants in Wilmington and Rancho Cordova.
North American Environmental Inc., 13641 Milton Ave., was cited for improperly storing 250 to 300 drums of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) outdoors at its plant in Wilmington. The company also failed to notify the federal agency that PCB waste was being handled at the two facilities, EPA officials said.
Manufacture of the toxic compound, which was widely used in electrical equipment and as insulation, was banned in 1979 because it breaks down very slowly in the environment. It is believed to cause cancer in humans.
At Wilmington, the company stored the waste drums for longer periods than allowed in an outdoors area that doesn’t comply with federal law, EPA officials said. No contamination of the environment was found at either site.
North American Environmental, a commercial waste-storage company, is allowed to try to negotiate a lower settlement.
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