A large chemical manufacturer has agreed to pay Sacramento County $2.4 million after keeping the public in the dark about its handling of hazardous chemical wastes in Elk Grove, officials announced Monday.
Officials with Georgia-Pacific Chemicals said the plant that produces wood adhesives and industrial resins did not release anything into the environment that posed a health risk to the public or the facility's estimated 20 workers.
County environmental regulators, however, said they had no way of telling, because the company failed to provide the reports that would have allowed regulators to monitor waste disposal at the 25-acre spread on East Stockton Boulevard. County inspectors documented problems at the company's site as far back as 2003.
Major generators of toxic waste are required by law to obtain agency permits and routinely file public reports on the volume and type of chemicals on site to help enforcers detect potential hazards.
"The management and treatment of hazardous waste is a violation that is deemed very serious," said Dennis Green, chief of the county's hazardous materials division. "If it's not done properly, there is a potential that it can be a danger to employees and the environment."
The penalty is believed to be the largest of its kind for a local environmental enforcement agency in the United States, Val Siebal, director of the county Environmental Management Department, said in a press release. State and federal enforcers pursue more-serious pollution violations that carry larger fines.
The fine stems from health and safety violations the county issued in July for failing to get permits, conduct daily inspections of hazardous waste storage tanks or properly manage tanks that previously held toxic waste.
Green estimated that Georgia-Pacific saved $300,000 a year for three to four years by failing to haul its wastes to expensive disposal sites licensed to handle hazardous materials.
The company didn't have the permits required to dispose of the materials on site, he said. Yet, in some instances, the company diluted caustic and distillate wastes within hazardous waste limits before draining them down the sewer, according to the county enforcement order.
The county found no evidence that the company was dumping hazardous materials, Green said.
The company acknowledged it enjoyed an economic benefit by not following requirements, Green said, and the large fine was based in part on that financial gain to create "an even playing field" for other chemical plants that follow the environmental rules.
Julie Davis, a spokeswoman with Georgia-Pacific headquarters in Atlanta, said its subsidiary Georgia-Pacific Chemicals cooperated fully.
"Since this was uncovered in May 2007, we've been working with the county to address their concerns," Davis said.
The penalties are to be paid in four installments over 30 months.
Call The Bee's Loretta Kalb, (916) 478-2641. Bee staff writer Robert Lewis contributed to this report.
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