UPS Pays Fines and Corrects Hazardous Waste Violations

A consent agreement with Atlanta-based UPS resolves a range of alleged violations, including failure to comply with land disposal decisions and failure to implement proper on-site management of hazardous waste. The company said it will take him three years to achieve compliance at 1,160 locations and will pay $5.3 million in civil penalties.

Known worldwide for its familiar brown truck, UPS is regulated under the Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act in the event of damage to packages containing certain hazardous materials and during routine operations such as maintenance EPA says it creates hazardous waste.

“This settlement is another example of the EPA’s commitment to protecting communities from the dangers of hazardous waste,” said Larry Starfield, EPA’s Deputy Administrator for Law Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. The settlement requires UPS to address illegal activity at all of its facilities and “enforce policies to prevent future violations,” Starfield said.

UPS spokesperson Lauren Spangler said the package delivery service has long-standing procedures for handling hazardous waste and is taking additional steps to improve its practices.

“The safety of our employees and communities, as well as caring for the environment, are UPS’s top priorities,” she said in an email. “We will continue to work with agencies and authorities around the world to ensure the safety of our networks and the well-being of our employees, customers and the communities we serve.”

Texas-based Region 6 EPA officials last year entered into settlement agreements with UPS for facilities in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas. Following that settlement, the EPA expanded its investigation to other her UPS facilities around the country and identified similar allegations nationwide. According to the EPA, UPS facilities generate, accumulate, provide, transport, process, and/or dispose of certain hazardous waste streams, including combustible, corrosive, and acute hazardous waste streams. increase.

UPS has developed a compliance strategy at its Region 6 facilities and has begun similar actions nationwide, the EPA said.

Under the settlement, UPS agreed to comply with state and federal RCRA laws and regulations, including more accurate hazardous waste determinations, proper employee training, and proper on-site management of hazardous waste. EPA said.