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EPA Finds Shipping Company Violated Hazardous Waste Management Regulations -- Fines Ensue

Release Date: 09/28/1998
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(#98131) SAN JUAN, P.R. -- The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has fined a hazardous waste transporter, Crowley American Transport, for violating transportation requirements of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Crowley is an international shipping company with offices in San Juan, Puerto Rico and operations throughout the Caribbean. In September 1997, the company mis-routed four shipments of a toxic and ignitable hazardous waste that was generated in the refining of petroleum.

"The RCRA regulations regarding the transportation of hazardous waste were designed to insure that those handling it do so safely, and that shipments are tracked and managed from 'cradle to grave,'" said Jeanne M. Fox, EPA Region 2 Administrator. "EPA treats violations of these regulations seriously, since the improper management of hazardous waste can pose a serious threat to public health."

According to RCRA, before a company that generates hazardous waste ships the waste off-site, it must specify the type of waste, as well as its final destination and any intermediate stops along the way. The generator of the hazardous waste in this case hired Crowley American to pick up four shipments of the waste from St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Three of the shipments were to be delivered to another Crowley-owned hazardous waste transporter in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The remaining shipment was to be delivered to a New York-based hazardous waste transporter. After picking up the four shipments in St. Croix, however, Crowley routed them to a non-hazardous waste Crowley-owned transporter in Jacksonville, Florida, without any notice that the waste was toxic, ignitable, and posed a threat. After the error was identified, the four shipments of hazardous waste ultimately reached the originally designated facilities without incident.

EPA fined Crowley American Transport $100,650 for the violation.

For more information contact:
Nina Habib Spencer, Press Office
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway
NY, NY 10007-1866
Voice: 212-637-3670 FAX: 212-637-5046 E-Mail: habib.nina@epamail.epa.gov