EPA v. PIRKLE, INC.

Case summary

9/13/12 - CONSENT AGMT ISSUED, ASSESSING A PENALTY OF $49,410, DUE WITHIN 30 DAYS. ON JULY 5 & 15, 2011, EPA PERFORMED A CEI AND A CASE DEVELOPMENT INSPECTION (CDI) AT RESPONDENT'S FACILITY. ALLEGATIONS: RESPONDENT STORED USED OIL IN CONTAINERS THAT WERE NOT LABELED OR MARKED CLARLY WITH THE WORDS USED OIL. RESPONDENT FAILED TO CLEAN UP AND PROPERLY MANAGE USED OIL RELEASES UPON DETECTION. EPA OBSERVED UNLABEL CONTAINERS HOLDING SPENT MINERAL SPIRITS THAT HAD BEEN USED TO CLEAN PAINTING SUPPLIES IN THE MAINTENANCE BUILDING. THESE CONTAINERS WERE OPEN WHILE WAS NOT BEING ADDED OR REMOVED AND WERE NOT LABELED WITH THE WORDS HAZARDOUS WASTE OR OTHER WORDS THAT IDENTIFIED THE CONTENTS OF THE CONTAINERS. EPA OBSERVED ALUMINUM ENAMEL STAINING ON TEH GROUND IN THE WAREHOUSE, MERCURY STORED IN GLASS JARS ON A TABLE WITH NO CONTAINMENT, AND ELECTRONIC DEBRIS DISASSEMBLED, BROKEN AND DISCARDED ON THE FLOOR IN THE WAREHOUSE BUILDINGS. EPA OBSERVED THAT THE FACILITY WAS NOT PROPERLY IDENTIFYING SOLID WASTES GENERATED AT ITS FACILITY AND SUBSEQUENTLY NO HAZARDOUS WASTE DETERMINATIONS WERE BEING MADE ON THE SOLID WASTES. THESE WASTES INCLUDE ELECTORNIC WASTES, DISCARDED GLASS JARS OF MERCURY, BROKEN FLUROESCENT BULGS, DISCARDED SHREDDED AND BROKEN CIRCUIT BOARDS, AND A VARIETY OF WASTE-CONTAINING DRUMS IN THE WAREHOUSE. BASED ON MANIFESTS REVIEWED AND INFO DISCLOSED BY RESPONDENT TO EPA, RESPONDENT HAD BOTH STORED QUANTITIES OF HAZ WASTE IN EXCESS OF 100 KGs AND HAD MANIFESTED AND OFFERED FOR TRANSPORT HAZ WASTE WITHOUT HAVING FIRST RECEIVED AN EPA ID NO. EPA OBSERVED APPARENT LARGE QUANTITY MANAGEMENT OF UNIVERSAL WASTE, WHICH WAS LATER CONFIRMED IN THE RESPONDENT'S RESPONSE TO THE EPA'S REQUEST FOR INFO, WHICH INDICATED THAT RESPONDENT HAD EXCEEDED THE 5,000 KG STORAGE LIMIT OF UNIVERSAL WASTE BATTERIES DURING JAN AND MAY OF 2010, AND DURING THE MONTHS OF JAN THRU MAY OF 2011. RESPONDENT HAD NOT NOTIFIED GA EPD OF ITS LQHUW STATUS DURING THOSE TIMES. EPA OBSERVED UNIVERSAL WASTE, INCLUDING LEAD ACID BATTERIES AND FLUORESCENT LAMPS, WHICH WERE NOT DATED TO INDICATE THE LENGTH OF TIME THAT THE UNIVERSAL WASTE HAD BEEN ACCUMULATED FROM THE DATE IT BECAME WASTE OR WAS RECEIVED. NO ADD'L INFO WAS SUBSEQUENTLY PROVIDED THAT WOULD CLEARLY DEMONSTRATE THE LENGTH OF TIME THAT THE UNIVERSAL WASTE HAD BEEN STORED. EPA OBSERVED UNLABELED PALLETS OF LEAD ACID BATTERIES IN THE PRECIOUS METALS WAREHOUSE, WHICH THE FACILITY CERTIFIED WERE BEING MANAGED AS UNIVERSAL WASTE BATTERIES. EPA OBSERVED UNCONTAINED SPENT UNIVERSAL WASTE LAMPS AND BOXES OF SPENT UNIVERSAL WASTE LAMPS THAT WERE NOT LABELED. EPA OBSERVED UNCONTAINED SPENT UNIVERSAL WASTE LAMPS IN THE ROOM IN WHICH THE MERCURY WAS DISCOVERED, INCLUDING ONES THAT WERE BROKEN ON THE FLOOR.

Defendants (1)

• PIRKLE, INC.Named in complaintNamed in settlement

Facilities (1)

• PIRKLE MERCURY

  598 WELLS STREET, ATLANTA, GA, 30312

  Registry ID: 110043696596

Statutes cited

• RCRA 3002 — Standards Applicable to Generators of Hazardous Waste

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• PIRKLE, INC.entered 2012-09-12

  Primary law: RCRA

  Federal penalty: $49,410

Timeline (4 milestones)

• 2012-09-12Final Order Issued
• 2012-09-12Complaint Filed/Proposed Order
• 2012-09-18Enforcement Action Data Entered
• 2012-10-03Enforcement Action Closed