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EPA SEEKS $84,200 PENALTY FROM WOBURN STEEL DRUM FOR HAZARDOUS WASTE VIOLATIONS

Release Date: 10/02/1998
Contact Information: Peyton Fleming, EPA Press Office (617-918-1008)

BOSTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week issued a penalty and compliance order to a Woburn-based steel drum company for hazardous waste violations that were discovered last year.

Woburn Steel Drum Inc., which refurbishes used steel drums, is cited in the EPA complaint for numerous violations of federal and state hazardous waste regulations, including failure to mark containers of hazardous waste, failure to inspect containers of hazardous waste and late reporting on hazardous waste exports. The company exports incinerator ash to Canada. The order requires that these violations be corrected and includes a proposed penalty of $84,200.

Woburn Steel refurbishes used steel drums by sending them through a tubular incinerator that burns out any residues adhering to them. This process generates large amounts of incinerator ash, which is hazardous because it contains cadmium. All of the company's incinerator ash is exported to Canada.

"Woburn Steel's sloppy handling of incinerator ash and other hazardous waste materials is unacceptable, especially given the company's proximity to a planned commuter rail station," said John P. DeVillars, administrator of the EPA's New England Office. "This compliance order sends a clear message that we will not tolerate such infractions."

The compliance order stems from an EPA inspection in February 1997.