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PA MISHANDLING OF HAZ. WASTES LEADS TO HOME DETENTION & FINE

Release Date: 09/08/96
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PA MISHANDLING OF HAZ. WASTES LEADS TO HOME DETENTION & FINE

FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1996

MISHANDLING OF HAZARDOUS WASTES LEADS TO HOME DETENTION AND FINE FOR SPOKANE, WASH., CONTRACTOR

On Aug. 26, Donald Buster, owner of Hydrocarbon Specialty Contractor Inc. (HSCI) in Spokane, Wash., was charged, pleaded guilty and sentenced on one felony count of illegally treating, storing and disposing of hazardous waste. Buster's sentence included a fine of $5,000, six months home detention and two years of supervised release. HSCI was in the business of decommissioning underground storage tanks. The waste sludge from the tanks was brought to the HSCI facility in Spokane, where it was stored for several years before it was dumped on the ground and mixed with sawdust. Buster then illegally disposed of the sawdust and sludge mixture, which contained 30 times the allowable levels of lead, by burning it at the Spokane city incinerator. Over 400 drums of waste and a large pile of the sawdust sludge mixture were identified during the execution of a criminal search warrant at the HSCI facility. The EPA Superfund Program was required to conduct an emergency response and removal at the facility due to the threat of explosion at the site and the potential for contamination of a nearby drinking water well owned by the city. A private party conducted further cleanup of the HSCI site at a cost of over $200,000 and has reimbursed the federal government $70,000 for emergency response and oversight. Donald Buster has contributed $120,000 towards the cleanup and has agreed to pay the remainder of the cleanup costs. The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division.

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