Oil company forced to pay $80k for hazardous waste dumping

Cyn, an oil company in Massachusetts, has been charged $80,000 (£50,800) for reportedly leaking hazardous waste onto the ground.

It has been revealed that the company failed to use competent containers to transfer petroleum-soaked solids, leading to hazardous waste being leaked onto the ground.

In addition, the firm failed to give the containers to a rail transporter for proper disposal, Waste Management World reports.

Instead of using the Hazardous Waste Manifest System, as the law claims that it should, Cyn left the containers in a rail yard, after which the containers leaked around 35 gallons of hazardous waste oil onto the ground.

After the incident, Cyn failed to alert the Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) of the oil leaks.

The company had to clear the containers up themselves.

"Transportation of hazardous materials must be done in containers that do not leak hazardous materials onto the road or elsewhere where they could threaten public health and safety," said MassDEP Commissioner Kenneth Kimmell.

"Hazardous waste laws also require thorough records showing any transfer of the manifest, so that every party responsible for the proper management of that waste at any given time is always identified."

Because of the severity of the offence, Cyn has been instructed to pay $80,000 (£50,800) in civil penalties to the Commonwealth.

The company may not have to pay the whole amount, however. Indeed, if Cyn complies with all of the obligations enforced upon them, $30,000 (£19,050) will be shaved off the fee.

The case is being handled by assistant attorney general Betsy Harper of attorney general Coakley's Environmental Protection Division, as well as MassDEP regional attorney Colleen McConnell and environmental analysts Matthew Barber, John Keating, and Bill Sirull.

This complaint was filed with a consent judgment in Suffolk Superior Court last Friday (January 25th 2013).