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EPA, Ecology Renew Call for Citizen Help: No Signs of Paint Thinner Found When Probers Check Dump Site

Release Date: 9/14/1999
Contact Information: Robert Jacobson
jacobson.robert@epamail.epa.gov
(206) 553-1203

September 14, 1999 - - - - - - - - - - 99-44


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Federal and state criminal agents have encountered a frustrating development in their continuing investigation of a serial dumper who has illegally discarded hundreds of canisters of dangerous paint thinner along roadsides, on dead-end streets, in vacant lots and at other locations in Pierce, King, Snohomish, Yakima and Kittitas counties.

Until last week, EPA and the Washington Department of Ecology -- EPA’s partner in the investigation -- had been successful in promptly removing the paint thinner from all 18 known dump sites and arranging for its safe disposal. Last Wednesday, the day after EPA learned of a dump site on 196^th Street in Lynnwood, Ecology went to the scene and found no sign of paint thinner. The site had recently been bulldozed for a construction project.

EPA and Ecology wish they had learned earlier of the Lynnwood site.

"We act as fast as we can to remove the canisters of paint thinner and dispose of them properly but in this case, even though Ecology responded overnight, it wasn’t in time,” said Mike Burnett of EPA’s criminal investigation office in Seattle. "As things stand now, without knowing exactly what happened to the paint thinner at the 196^th Street location, we’re going to have to assume that it remains in the environment."

Burnett said he hoped members of the public would be willing to help EPA and Ecology find abandoned containers of paint thinner.

The paint thinner is toxic, and doubly dangerous because of its ignitability -- as low as one degree Fahrenheit in some cases. If found, the drums should be left undisturbed and their location reported immediately to:

Mike Burnett, Criminal Investigation Division
EPA/Seattle
(206) 553-8306

According to EPA and Ecology, the dumping at 196^th Street in Lynnwood probably matched what’s been found at other locations. At just about every site discovered so far, there were from two to three dozen 5-gallon metal canisters. Many of the drums were banded with one, two or three rings of masking tape around the circumference of the entire container. Many of the canisters bore labels that clearly indicated they contained paint thinner.

The dump sites have been found over the past year on both sides of the Cascades. The earliest discoveries -- in Selah and near Ellensburg -- were made in August 1998. Since then, dump sites have been found in Pierce County near Enumclaw; in Lynnwood and Snohomish in Snohomish County; and in King County at various locations, including Redmond, Lake City and in Seattle near University Village.

The investigation is still in progress. No charges have been filed, and it’s possible -- as often happens -- the investigation may not result in prosecution.

The investigation is being conducted under the authority of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the federal statute regulating hazardous wastes. Under the law, paint thinner must be handled as a hazardous waste. Criminal violations are punishable by fines or imprisonment, and sometimes both.