August 21, 2007

Home Depot Pays $10 Million To Settle Hazardous Waste Case

Bookmark and Share Email this story Print this post Add your comments

Home Depot is paying nearly $10 million to settle a civil case filed by state and Los Angeles County prosecutors over the retailer’s failure to properly store and transport hazardous waste, the LA Times reports.

An investigation began after a 55-gallon drum at Home Depot’s Marina del Rey store blew up in 2004. Investigators later discovered that chemicals were mixed together into an explosive brew. After the explosion, a waste hauler contracted by Home Depot was driving a truck not certified by the state.

The investigation concluded that Home Depot routinely collected its hazardous waste and placed it in large buckets for offsite disposal. Haulers sometimes improperly stored and labeled the waste and did not keep good records.

Bookmark and Share Email this story Print this post Add your comments

Advertisers

Join the Discussion

Reader Comments

Do we know what the chemicals that were mixed to create an explosion? If so can you send me more information, because it seems almost impossible to have Home Depot possessing chemicals to create a mixture explosion. Maybe they had high flammable chemicals and someone accidentally heated it up and then exploded, I’ll believe that.

I agree with Ryan. Unless they were mixing pool chlorine or concentrated acids with flammable solvents, this should not happen. Were they accepting waste from their customers or others?

The hazards are definitely in the stores. I recently walked a retail store and identified more than a hundred products that would be deemed hazardous wastes when not saleable. Home Depot is not the first to have an incindent–theirs’ involved flammables mixed w/ oxidizers–fires have occurred in the past with this mix and others like aerosols. There are also many very dangerous reactions that produce gases very harmful to health. There has been a big box store burn to the ground and another retailer that had a warehouse fire in the recent past; Home Depot has gotten publicity, but they are not unique.

Get EL Daily in your inbox, subscribe to free newsletter

Recent Daily News [ see all ]

  • 11/20/2009
  • 11/19/2009
  • 11/18/2009

Recent Jobs

Post a Job
Jobs powered by Simply Hired

Comments and Discussions

Gary Markowitz on Supermarkets Tackle Emissions Reductions, Fuel Efficiency
"Supermarkets waste over 10 percent of their energy through improper..."

peter in ireland on Ontario May Follow California’s Lead on TV Energy Efficiency
"Governor Schwarzenegger is shooting himself in the foot! 1...."

Environmental Leader on S. America Takes Most Urgent View of Copenhagen Talks
"The survey respondents (the PDF report mentions 4,000 respondents in 38..."

Jake on UPS Trying New Hydraulic Hybrid Trucks
"A point of clarification: the Reuters press release referenced herein reports that 20 UPS will purchase..."

Custom Organic Shirts on S. America Takes Most Urgent View of Copenhagen Talks
"90% of North Americans believe it is urgent to get a global climate..."

peter dublin on California City’s Green Building Ordinance Applies to Commercial Buildings
"Why energy efficiebnt regulation on buildings –..."