Clean Harbors to Pay More Than $1 Million in Hazardous Waste Settlement

A subsidiary of Clean Harbors Inc. has agreed to pay more than $1 million for hazardous waste violations in an U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) settlement.

The EPA said in a news release that Clean Harbors of Braintree Inc. of Massachusetts, a unit of the Norwell, Mass.-based parent company, will pay a penalty of $650,000. It also will pay at least $450,000 for a fire truck, where the violations occurred. The city of Braintree, Mass., will share the cost. The hazardous waste company also will spend at least $612,500 to plant about 800 trees in low-income neighborhoods in Boston.

The EPA said the settlement revises an earlier August 2011 accord.  

The EPA identified nearly 30 violations at Clean Harbors’ hazardous waste processing plant in Braintree in 2007. The violations included inadequate waste characterization, failure to properly maintain its hazardous waste tanks, inadequate secondary containment and improper storage of incompatible wastes.