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Phoenix Recycling Company to Pay ADEQ and EPA $268,000 for Hazardous Waste Violations

Release Date: 10/9/2002
Contact Information: Patrick Gibbons, ADEQ, (602) 771-2215, Wendy Chavez, EPA, (415) 947-4248

     SAN FRANCISCO   The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that the Phoenix-based recycling company Superior Special Services, Inc. has agreed to pay $143,000 in fines and $125,000 for an environmental project for multiple state and federal hazardous waste violations.

     The company, located at 5752 W. Jefferson Street,failed to properly categorize, document, label and store hazardous waste and, failed to document training for those handling or those supervising the handling of hazardous wastes stored at the facility.  Superior provides companies with hazardous waste recycling of fluorescent lighting and ballasts, lamps, transformers, batteries, mercury waste, and PCBs.

     "Clearly the facility needed to improve its business practices to lessen the chances of public  exposure to hazardous wastes and to protect the environment," said Shannon Davis, director of ADEQ's Waste Programs Division.  "The new management has demonstrated its commitment to make the necessary changes and the facility is now complying with regulations."

     "Companies that handle hazardous waste need to manage them properly not only to protect the  environment, but to ensure public safety," said Jeff Scott,the EPA's Waste Management Division director for the Pacific Southwest region. "This facility owned up to these infractions and fixed the problems to comply with the law."
   
     Superior will pay $125,000 to the state's General Fund for state law violations and $18,000 to the U.S. Treasury for federal violations.  

     As part of a supplemental environmental project under the state's consent order, Superior will spend $125,000 to collect and dispose of unwanted hazardous chemicals from the Phoenix schools.  Outdated chemicals, toxic compounds, deteriorated containers, and inadequate ventilation in school laboratories present a potential for explosions, fires and the release of toxic vapors.  The money will go toward helping schools properly dispose of and manage waste from chemistry labs.

     Officials discovered the violations during a three-day inspection in April 2001.  The inspections are a part of a joint ADEQ and EPA compliance effort in South Phoenix.

     The company has since corrected all violations and subsequent inspections have shown the company's return to compliance.