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U.S. EPA receives $259,472 in clean up costs at former Alhambra toxic waste facility

Release Date: 10/5/2005
Contact Information: Dean Higuchi, 808-541-2711, higuchi.dean@epa.gov

LOS ANGELES - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been recently reimbursed $259,472 by companies who used the former A-American Environmental hazardous waste facility in Alhambra, Calif. to dispose of their hazardous waste.

"Our enforcement policy is the polluter pays for clean up whenever possible" said Dan Meer,chief of the EPA Pacific Southwest Region's Emergency Response, Planning and Assessment Branch. "When possible, we pursue responsible parties to reimburse the federal taxpayers for the cost of these clean up operations."

From 1999 to 2001, AAE operated a hazardous waste treatment disposal facility located at 3033 Mission in Alhambra. In August 2001, AAE closed its doors, and claimed that it lacked the funds to properly dispose of the hazardous waste. In 2002, the California Department of Toxic Substances requested that the EPA take the lead role in removing the hazardous waste at AAE.

Much of the waste - including explosives, oxydizers, and corrosives - received for disposal were not properly handled, and containers with hazardous substances were improperly labeled or defaced making state and federal monitoring difficult.

The EPA spent approximately $683,755 in cleanup costs at the AAE site, removing 62,256 gallons of bulk waste.

For more information on the EPA?s Superfund program, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/region9/waste/sfund/index.html
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