Anchorage Firms Settle Hazardous Waste Claims

(CN) - Two Alaskan companies will pay a total of $140,000 to settle claims that they mishandled hazardous material, the EPA said Wednesday.

Anchorage, Alaska-based UIC Roofing and UIC Construction violated the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, or RCRA, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The government says UIC Roofing transported hazardous waste to UIC Construction's property on Oct. 19, 2010, without first getting required generator and transporter identification numbers. The roofing company also did not prepare a hazardous waste manifest or dispose of the waste at a permitted facility, the EPA claims.

The construction company was accused of improperly storing the waste until April 2011, when it shipped the hazardous material to an approved RCRA disposal facility.

UIC Roofing agreed to pay more than $59,000 to settle the alleged violations and UIC Construction will pay just over $80,000 in penalties, according to an EPA press release. Both companies are subsidiaries of UIC Construction Services in Anchorage.

Ed Kowalski, director of EPA's Pacific Northwest Office of Compliance and Enforcement, said in a statement that federal rules like the RCRA protect workers and community members.

"Improperly managing hazardous waste puts people and our environment at risk from exposure to harmful substances," Kowalski said.

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