Coakley
BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced on Friday that she has reached a $100,000 settlement with a metal company that allegedly violated the state's environmental laws.
Duralectra Inc. and Duralectra-CHN LLC allegedly mismanaged hazardous waste at a metal coating facility in Natick, Mass.
"Companies using dangerous chemicals and producing hazardous wastes must meet required safety precautions," Coakley said. "And protecting the health and welfare of workers and the public must come first."
Coakley alleged that the company treated, disposed of, stored and managed hazardous waste at its metal coating facility in Natick. The suit also alleged that the company intentionally boiled down a 2,000-gallon tank of waste sodium dichromate solution, which caused the release of hazardous fumes, potentially hurting the environment and putting workers and the public at risk.
The suit alleged that the company did this because it believed that reducing the volume of waste would reduce the cost of disposal and save the company money.
Under terms of the settlement, the defendants are required to pay a $100,000 civil penalty to Massachusetts and must comply with all hazardous waste and other environmental laws.
Additionally, the complaint alleged that Duralectra Inc. improperly stored the waste for more than 90 days and didn't employ proper signage or use proper delineation of storage areas. It also allegedly used unlabeled and open containers and failed to maintain proper plans or records.
Duralectra-CHN LLC has successor liability for all of Duralectra's violations as a result of a merger in May 2008 involving several entities.