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U.S. EPA, Northrop Grumman settle case over improper hazardous waste handling

Release Date: 9/30/2003
Contact Information: Mark Merchant, (415) 947-4297

SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently reached a settlement with Northrop Grumman Space and Mission Systems Corp. that requires the company to pay $33,214 over violations of federal hazardous waste laws at its Capistrano test site.

The test site property was purchased by the Northrop Grumman Corp. in December 2002. On Oct. 24, 2002, when the property was still owned and operated by TRW Space and Electronics Group, it was the subject of a routine EPA inspection.

The EPA inspectors found the following violations of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act:

• Storage of hazardous waste without a permit;

• failure to conduct daily inspections of the above-ground storage tank;

• failure to obtain and keep on file a written assessment and certification of the above-ground
  hazardous waste storage tank by an independent, professional engineer registered in California;

• failure to close containers of hazardous waste; and

• failure to properly label containers of hazardous waste.

Northrop Grumman has corrected the violations after receiving a violation notice from the EPA in March.

"Proper waste handling is key to protecting public health and the environment, and we're committed to ensuring that companies handling hazardous waste comply with the rules," said Amy Zimpfer, acting director of the EPA's Waste Management Division in San Francisco. "We're pleased Northrop Grumman acted quickly to correct the violations."

For more information on the EPA's RCRA program visit: https://www.epa.gov/Region9/waste/rcra/ca/rcrainfo.htm

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