(AGENPARL) – gio 07 dicembre 2023 Issued: Dec 7, 2023 (3:45pm EST)
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North Denver waste solvent facility among several in proposed national
settlement resolving alleged hazardous waste violations
EPA, DOJ settlement with Heritage-Crystal Clean resolves Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act claims, secures safe management of solvents
DENVER (December 7, 2023) — Today, EPA and the U.S. Department of Justice
announced a settlement with Heritage-Crystal Clean, LLC (HCC) to resolve
pending claims of the United States on behalf of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
(LDEQ), and the State of Indiana for violations of requirements governing
management of hazardous waste, as well as a violation of used oil management
requirements, at current or former HCC facilities located in Indianapolis,
Indiana; Shreveport, Louisiana; Atlanta, Georgia; Fairless Hills,
Pennsylvania; and Denver, Colorado.?  
Under the settlement, HCC commits to pay civil penalties totaling $1,162,500
and to implement various measures to ensure that HCC facilities will not
treat, store or dispose of parts-washing solvents that qualify as hazardous
waste unless and until HCC receives a hazardous waste permit authorizing it to
manage hazardous waste.  Plaintiffs estimate that the compliance measures
required under the settlement will cost at least $1,628,502.? 
“This settlement reflects our commitment to protecting communities,
including North Denver, from the potential risk of exposure to hazardous
chemicals,” said Suzanne Bohan, director of EPA Region 8’s Enforcement
and Compliance Assurance Division. “HCC’s compliance actions will ensure
the safe handling of solvents and reduce potential harm to people and the
environment.” 
?“While federal law encourages responsible recycling of hazardous waste,
recyclers must still comply with legal requirements designed to ensure the
health and safety of our communities,” said Assistant Attorney General
Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources
Division (ENRD). “This settlement reflects our commitment to ensuring that
hazardous waste recycling operations are conducted in accordance with the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and its regulations.” 
In January 2022, a twenty-one-count complaint was filed against HCC in federal
district court in the Northern District of Illinois under the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and applicable state law. The complaint
states that in the course of providing parts washing services to customers
throughout the United States, HCC accepted some used solvent that qualified as
hazardous waste, but HCC did not transport and manage those solvents in
accordance with applicable hazardous waste management requirements.?  
Heritage-Crystal Clean, Denver facility 
The proposed settlement includes the resolution of alleged violations and
remedies associated with the Denver Heritage Crystal Clean (HCC) facility at
5221 Monroe Street, located in the North Denver-Commerce City area, a
historically overburdened neighborhood. HCC delivers solvent products to area
customers from this facility which are used for parts washing. HCC’s Denver
facility then brings used solvent from its customers back to the facility for
transfer to other HCC facilities for reclamation. The primary solvent (142
Mineral Spirits) managed at the facility is an organic solvent with a claimed
flash point of 142 degrees. An EPA inspection found that containers with used
142 Mineral Spirits on site exceeded the regulatory limit for
tetrachloroethylene, making the solvent a characteristic hazardous waste
subject to specific RCRA requirements.  
EPA has determined the Denver HCC facility is not handling hazardous spent 142
Mineral Spirits solvent according to RCRA requirements. Specifically, EPA
found that HCC transported hazardous spent 142 Mineral Spirits solvent without
documentation required by RCRA and stored the hazardous waste solvent at the
Denver facility without first obtaining a permit. The settlement includes a
sampling program to ensure hazardous wastes are properly identified and
requires HCC to promptly remove any 142 solvent drums and consolidation
containers with hazardous waste characteristics. The facility will manage such
wastes in accordance with applicable hazardous waste requirements in the
future.??  
National Settlement Details 
The EPA/DOJ complaint states that HCC (1) transported hazardous waste without
required hazardous waste manifests, (2) stored hazardous waste at various HCC
facilities without required permits, (3) failed to make required hazardous
waste determinations after mixing used solvents from different parts washing
customers, (4) failed to comply with certain requirements for reducing air
emissions from certain hazardous waste tanks and equipment, and (5) failed to
maintain adequate secondary containment for certain hazardous waste tanks. The
proposed settlement includes numerous other provisions specific to each
facility, as well as provisions that require HCC to distribute educational
materials to parts-washing customers in specified circumstances, and
provisions for HCC to retain a third party to conduct audits at designated HCC
facilities to ensure future compliance.? 
The five HCC facilities included in this settlement are recognized by EPA to
be located within communities with potential environmental justice concerns.
Nearby communities will benefit from the improved controls and new work
practices that will be implemented at HCC facilities as required by the
consent decree. These new controls and practices will reduce emissions of
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to neighboring communities and reduce risk
of exposure by ensuring lower volumes of hazardous wastes are managed at these
facilities.? 
The proposed consent decree, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of Illinois, is subject to a 30-day federal public comment
period and approval by the federal court.  The consent decree can be viewed
on the Department of Justice consent decrees website.
For more information about this settlement, please visit Heritage-Crystal
Clean, LLC RCRA Settlement Information Sheet. 
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