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West Coast Cleaning and Preservation To Pay $60,000 for Used Oil Violations on Oahu

Release Date: 2/18/2003
Contact Information: Dean Higuchi, U.S. EPA, (808) 541-2711, [email protected]

     SAN FRANCISCO   The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reached a settlement with West Coast Cleaning and Preservation of Kapolei, Oahu that requires the company to pay $60,000 for used oil violations discovered during a routine inspection in 2000.

     West Coast cleaned tanks and bilges at local shipyards and other facilities. West Coast was also a commercial used oil transporter and transfer facility based in Campbell Industrial Park. The facility improperly stored and managed used oil at its transfer facility.

     EPA investigators discovered the following violations in August of 2000:

          failure to ship off-site 13 containers of used oil before the 35-day storage limit, including one
     tanker storing 5,000 gallons of used oil, which was stored for 623 days and a tanker truck storing
     3,900 gallons of used oil, which was stored for 68 days;

          failure to install secondary containment for 19 containers of used oil;

          failure to properly mark the 19 containers of used oil; and

          failure to maintain records of analyses or information to ensure that the used oil was not hazardous waste.

     "To ensure community, worker and environmental safety, it's critical that companies whose business is handling wastes comply with the rules," said Jeff Scott, the EPA's director for the waste management programs in the Pacific Southwest region.  "The rules for safely handling used oil are straightforward and we expect a very high level of compliance."

     EPA and Hawai'i Department of Health inspectors revisited the facility in December 2001 and June 2002 to verify the facility was in compliance with used oil regulations.  West Coast notified the Department of Health in September 2002 that it was ceasing its operations at the Kapolei facility.  West Coast vacated its offices and all on-site equipment and vehicles were removed from the property.

     The former operations manager of West Coast has registered at the State of Hawai'i's Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs as the "agent" for "Hawai'i Cleaning & Coatings, Inc." According to the Department, Hawai'i Cleaning & Coatings is "active" and provides industrial marine cleaning and related services. Hawaii Cleaning & Coatings was incorporated in July 2002.