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Uploaded: Monday, June 15, 2009, 4:54 PM
Target sued for illegal hazardous-waste dumping
Hazardous waste and materials unlawfully disposed in California
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by Sue Dremann
Palo Alto Weekly Staff
A major lawsuit was filed against Target Corporation Monday by the California Attorney General and 19 district attorneys, including Santa Clara County's. The suit alleges that Target's 200-plus California stores have improperly disposed of hazardous materials for the past eight years.
Target has stores in Redwood City, Mountain View, Cupertino, Fremont, Newark and San Jose. Its California retail stores and distribution centers collectively handle and sell substantial volumes of hazardous materials, including bleaches, pool chlorine, pesticides, fertilizers, paints and varnishes, ignitable liquids, aerosol products, cleaning agents, automotive products and solvents and flammable and corrosive materials, according to an announcement of the action.
Some of the materials spill, break, expire or become damaged such that they cannot be sold or used, according to a press release from Santa Clara County District Attorney Dolores A. Carr.
Inspectors have found repeated violations in which the materials were disposed of in trash compactors and sent to landfills instead of being separated and sent to hazardous-waste facilities, including at Santa Clara County stores, according to Kenneth Rosenblatt, Santa Clara County supervising deputy district attorney.
Inspections up and down the state found the number of manifests that list the shipping, destination and quantity of hazardous materials went down over the last eight years, with no adequate paper trail, he said.
"They were given notice of violations but they just don't seem to be able to fix it," he said.
The lawsuit would require Target to comply immediately with California law and start using a licensed hazardous-waste hauler to pick up the waste and transport it to an appropriate disposal facility.
The suit seeks $25,000 maximum penalties for each violation. Rosenblatt said he could not guess as to the number of violations or the sum of the penalties prosecutors will seek.
On May 18, Target embarked on a national health-and-wellness campaign, founding the Alliance to Make US Healthiest, a coalition that strives to help U.S. citizens become more physically and emotionally healthy, according to company press releases.
A Target spokesperson said the company is committed to maintaining compliance with environmental laws. Target has been participating in dialogue with the California attorney general and a number of district attorneys for almost three years, she said.
"We continue to believe that further review of our practices will lead to the conclusion that our program not only meets but surpasses the requirements of California law," Laura Opsahl, Target spokeswoman, said.
Target claims the attorney general is seeking to prevent the company from donating products such as detergent, shampoo and hairspray to local charities.
"We are disappointed that the relief sought in the complaint would unnecessarily reduce our support of those members of our communities most in need and would require Target to send useful products to landfills," she said.
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Posted by Greg, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Jun 15, 2009 at 7:02 pm Target need to hire better quality employees who are able to follow the law.
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Posted by Walter_E_Wallis, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Jun 16, 2009 at 2:19 am
Walter_E_Wallis is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online The hazmat laws are ridiculous overkill, in that none of the materials listed above will cause significant damage to the biosphere. Paint on a wall good, paint in a bucket bad? We badly need a So What Czar who's duty is to require an actual quantitative hazard proof before any restrictive laws are enabled.
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Posted by john, a resident of Stanford, on Jun 16, 2009 at 10:28 am So proof of polution is that your harzardous waste was reduced. Shouldn't they look in the trash and see if the waste is there rather than assuming it is? Maybe the packaging improved, the store reduuced consumption, or switched to environmentally friendly solutions. Lesson learned: Walmart increase your hazardous waste or you'll be next on the attourney generals list. If they can't tax the waste, they'll sue for for the lack of it.
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Posted by Avi, a resident of another community, on Jun 16, 2009 at 1:51 pm It is so important for everyone to know what is considered hazardous and what is toxic in the day-to-day life. That is one of the reasons I give out Health Begins at Home! presentations (Free - community service).
How to make your home healthier?
Is your home jeopardizing your health?
What are the toxins and hazards at home and what to do about them?
Healthier homes => Greener homes => Saving Money!
Come and learn new information; get FREE resources; learn tips about what to do or not do; hear real-life experiences; ask your questions; get practical answers.
1. July 9, 4:45pm at Emerson School, 2800 W. Bayshore Rd., Palo Alto 94303 (RSVP: 650-424-1267).
2. July 13, 2:00pm at Avenidas, 450 Bryant St., Palo Alto 94301 (no need to RSVP).
Hope to see you all!
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Posted by Commonsensor, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Jun 16, 2009 at 5:59 pm Back in the day, we called this kind of overly enthusiastic policing: "empire building". Give a bureaucrat some kind of environmental certification, threaten their golden handcuffs with budget cuts, and voila, the hideous crime of unaccounted for bleach, shampoo, and paint is revealed. I'll sleep much better tonight knowing that Target's inventory shrinkage wont be contaminating the ground water under my bedroom.
While the ever vigilant State of California is guarding my health, how about getting the old wheezing junkers off the highways. In terms of scale and exposure, vehicles of all kinds impact our lives much more than those unaccounted for aerosol cans.
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Posted by Red, a resident of another community, on Jun 16, 2009 at 6:24 pm I work for this company and deal with the items they are stating that we throw away in the trash.
We have very strict guidelines that we MUST follow. Items that can not be thrown in he trash are bagged, zip tied closed and placed in individual sealed containers depending on what the chemical is. We have an outside company that comes to haul all those items away.
It is sad though to read that some Targets are not following these rules and that these stores continue to do so even though they KNOW they aren't supposed to.
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Posted by Walter_E_Wallis, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Jun 17, 2009 at 2:56 am
Walter_E_Wallis is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online The products of decomposition of the biosphere are far deadlier than many so-called chemical threats in that they are replicating. The money and effort wasted on unjustified disposal procedures is money not available for genuinely beneficial use. I call it a stupidity tax.
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