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EPA SETTLES CASE WITH HARTFORD METROPOLITAN DISTRICT COMMISSION

Release Date: 09/07/1999
Contact Information: Amy Miller, EPA Press Office (617-918-1042)

BOSTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has settled an enforcement case with the Hartford, Conn., Metropolitan District Commission, with the MDC agreeing to pay a $1,750 penalty, train its employees on proper hazardous waste management and perform a pollution prevention audit. The training and audit cost the commission an additional $5,250.

The consent agreement between EPA and the MDC stems from a routine inspection in 1997 of the commission's Murphy Road maintenance facility, which services about 300 MDC vehicles.

In its complaint, EPA said the facility failed to properly determine the content of waste that was shipped off-site as nonhazardous waste on seven occasions. The complaint said the MDC was mixing hazardous solvents sold in aerosol cans as a cleaning agent with non-hazardous mineral spirits. This mixture was used in a cleaning process.

"This fine paves the way for the MDC to train employees in pollution prevention and to establish proper hazardous waste management practices at their facilities," said John P. DeVillars, EPA's New England Administrator. "The outcome of this case will benefit public safety and the environment."