SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif.- San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson joined with 44 California District Attorneys to announce that United Parcel Services, Inc., UPS Supply Chain Solutions, General Services, Inc., and UPS Supply Chain Solutions, Inc. (collectively “UPS”) has been ordered to pay $1.745 million in civil penalties, costs, and Supplemental Projects due to environmental violations.
The judgment in this civil lawsuit was filed in San Joaquin County Superior Court and is the result of an investigation into the unlawful disposal of hazardous waste, medical waste and confidential customer information by UPS over the last several years at its 140 facilities, including the eighteen facilities in San Bernardino County.
The lawsuit alleges that UPS unlawfully disposed of hazardous and medical waste in regular trash bins and transported it to local landfills not permitted to receive such waste. The hazardous waste and medical waste included, but was not limited to, ignitable, reactive, toxic, and corrosive materials, and items containing Drug Facts.
San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office will receive $327,000 as part of the settlement.
UPS cooperated with prosecutors during the investigation and implemented improved waste management practices and employee training to improve their handling of California regulated hazardous waste and medical waste. UPS, like all California businesses, is required to properly dispose of hazardous waste and medical waste that is generated in the normal course of its business, and to manage such hazardous waste and medical waste in labeled and segregated containers to ensure that the incompatible wastes do not mix and cause dangerous chemical reactions or harm to the environment.
Under the settlement UPS must pay $1.4 million in civil penalties, $140,000 in cost reimbursement, and $205,000 in Supplemental Environmental Projects. The DA’s Offices involved in the investigation include Riverside, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, and Yolo.
San Bernardino County Deputy District Attorney Stephanie Weissman of our Consumer and Environmental Protection Unit handled the case. The judgment was entered in San Joaquin County Superior Court on July 25th and signed by Judge George J. Abdallah, Jr.
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