Waste Management Will Pay $2.1m Fine For Landfill Violations

Date: January 2, 2003

Source: News Room

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has announced that Waste Management of Pennsylvania will pay $2.1 million in penalties as part of a settlement agreement for falsification of waste-receipt records discovered during a five-month DEP audit of the company's Evergreen Landfill in Center Township, Indiana County. The agreement also requires the Evergreen Landfill to fund two community environmental projects valued at $377,912. According to the DEP, Evergreen employees intentionally falsified the landfill's records to conceal violations of the maximum daily volume of waste the landfill could accept on 63 different occasions between Jan. 5, 2000, and Aug. 20, 2001. To cover up these violations, company employees had to falsify records for a total of 139 days to show the daily volume was not exceeded. The total amount of excess tonnage accepted over the allowed limit was 2,533 tons. Waste Management of Pennsylvania cooperated in the department's audit and subsequently fired the landfill's manager and scale-house operator.
More information: www.state.pa.us.

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