[Sqg-program] Home Depot pays $10M to settle Calif. dumping suit

[Perrigan, Glen]

Home Depot agreed last week to fines of $10 million to settle a lawsuit over
its mishandling of hazardous waste in California stores.

The California Justice Department and other state agencies sued after a
55-gallon drum full of mixed chemicals exploded at the chain's Marina Del Rey
store in May 2004, forcing the evacuation of customers and employees.

A multi-agency investigation across several counties found that Home Depot,
the world's largest home improvement chain, regularly gathered collected
waste from stores in large barrels for later disposal, sometimes transporting
them in unlicensed trucks and without proper record-keeping.

The settlement also requires that Home Depot help support environmental
training programs and other initiatives in the state (AP/San Francisco
Chronicle online
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2007/08/17/financial/f21
0922D65.DTL&type=printable> , Aug. 18).

State Attorney General Jerry Brown (D) said he intends the case to act as a
deterrent, and that he is looking at several other companies -- including
"some big, large names" -- for similar problems.

"Because of a cost-cutting campaign under the last CEO, safety measures have
definitely declined," Brown said of Home Depot.

Home Depot says that it has been improving its handling of hazardous waste.
With errant containers of random chemicals sitting around, prosecutors say,
explosions are almost inevitable.

"It was a volatile mixture that reacted and exploded," said Patty Bilgin,
supervising attorney for the environmental justice and protection section of
the Los Angeles city attorney's office. "These big-box outlets have become
mini-chemical warehouses" (Hector Becerra, Los Angeles Times
<http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-homedepot18aug18,1,5197025.story?ctr
ack=1&cset=true> , Aug. 18). -- LBD

 

Glen Perrigan
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Hazardous Waste Management Section
2600 Blair Stone Road  MS-4555
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400
850-245-8749 Fax:  850-412-0528
E-mail: glen.perrigan at dep.state.fl.us
Website:   www.dep.state.fl.us/waste <http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste> 

 

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