United States Attorney John L. Brownlee announced December 7 that Southern Finishing Inc., a manufacturer of wood and metal components for the furniture and cabinet industry based in Stoneville, N.C., was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Danville, Va., to pay a $200,000 fine and serve three years in probation for illegally storing hazardous waste at its Martinsville, Va., facility in violation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Senior Judge Jackson L. Kiser also ordered Southern Finishing to spend at least $250,000 to develop and implement an Environmental Management System, including performing annual audits during probation, to minimize environmental impacts and improve compliance with federal, state and local environmental requirements.
“We will forcefully prosecute anyone who knowingly violates environmental laws and regulations created to ensure the proper and safe handling of hazardous waste,” said U.S. Attorney Brownlee.
“The illegal storage of hazardous waste poses a risk to both the public and the environment,” said David M. Dillon, Special Agent in Charge of the Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division Office in
Southern Finishing had previously pled guilty, charging it with a felony RCRA violation. According to the EPA, from January 2002 to April 2004, Southern Finishing accumulated a large amount of 55-gallon drums containing hazardous waste consisting of waste paint, solvents and finishes, without having a permit to do so. The amount of stored hazardous waste grew even more after the company received a June 2003 shipment of metal-coating material that contained hazardous air pollutants and later learned that the federal Clean Air Act prohibited the application of such coatings. The hazardous waste was concealed among labeled drums of other waste and product material, so as to evade detection by regulators. More than 150 55-gallon drums of hazardous wastes were found on site. Some of the drums were not labeled, some had hazardous waste labels and accumulation dates more than 90 days old, and some were in poor condition (i.e.,leaking or punctured), according to the charge filed in court.
RCRA regulates the generation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste to ensure its safe management from the time it is generated until its ultimate disposal, that is, "cradle to grave.” Among other things, the statute prohibits the storage of hazardous waste unless an owner or operator of a hazardous waste storage facility obtains a permit pursuant to the implementing regulations. The maximum penalty against a corporate defendant for knowingly violating the relevant RCRA provisions is a fine of up to $50,000 per day of violation or $500,000, whichever is greater.
The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division, the City of Roanoke Police Department, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and the Blue Ridge Environmental Task Force. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennie L.M. Waering and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney David Lastra of EPA’s Office of Regional Counsel.