U.S. EPA settles with Safety-Kleen Systems, Inc. over hazardous waste violations at Los Angeles facility

LOS ANGELES CA (10/8/2020) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement with Safety-Kleen Systems Inc. over federal hazardous waste violations at their hazardous waste management facility in Los Angeles. Under the settlement, the company will pay a $102,700 civil penalty and take specific steps to properly manage hazardous wastes at its facility.

“This settlement will bring changes to Safety-Kleen’s operations, to ensure hazardous waste is properly handled and disposed of,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator John Busterud. “Safety-Kleen will implement these changes at all locations in the Pacific Southwest, to better protect communities, workers and customers.”

EPA inspected the Los Angeles facility in 2018 as part of EPA’s National Compliance Initiative to reduce hazardous air toxic emissions at hazardous waste facilities. As a result of the inspection, EPA identified violations of federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations at the Safety-Kleen facility, including failure to make accurate hazardous waste determinations for certain solid waste generated on-site at the facility.

In addition to paying the penalty, the company agreed to begin testing most of its customers’ containers for the hazardous chemical perchloroethylene, a likely human carcinogen, and committed to perform additional sampling of its waste streams. The settlement requires Safety-Kleen to implement these changes at all their locations in the Pacific Southwest. The company plans to spend at least $250,000 to implement these changes.

Media Contact: Soledad Calvino, 415-972-3512, calvino.maria@epa.gov