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Treasury Department Fined for Hazardous Waste Violations at D.C. Printing Plant

Release Date: 7/21/2000
Contact Information: Ruth Wuenschel, (215) 814-5540

Ruth Wuenschel, 215-814-5540

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Treasury Department’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing has agreed to pay a $38,000 penalty for unsafe storage and labeling of hazardous waste at the bureau’s currency and postage stamp production plant here. The penalty settles a 1999 EPA complaint.

In addition to the penalty, the bureau has now certified its compliance with all relevant regulations governing treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous waste at the plant.

“For federal facilities, as well as private companies, obeying hazardous waste regulations is a matter of dollars and good sense. Environmental compliance avoids penalties, saves legal costs, and protects the environment and the health of workers and the public,” said Bradley Campbell, EPA mid-Atlantic regional administrator.

EPA’s September 1999 administrative complaint alleged violations of several safeguards designed to reduce the risk of hazardous waste spills and leaks, including unsafe storage of hazardous wastes, failure to mark and date hazardous waste containers, and failure to properly identify hazardous waste discharge emergency coordinators.

The hazardous wastes included waste oils and butyl alcohol-containing inks, residues from plating operations, bucket wash sludge, caustic wash, ferric chloride, and spent cyanide solution residue.

As part of the settlement, the bureau neither admitted nor denied liability for the alleged violations.