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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Nov. 16, 1998
98-196
Contact: Sandy Howard, public information manager, (360) 407-6239
Jim Sachet, hazardous-waste compliance supervisor, (360) 407-6344
OLYMPIA - A Hoquiam yacht-building company, Sunchaser Corporation, has received a $17,000 penalty from the state Department of Ecology (Ecology) for illegally dumping hazardous waste.
On May 22, a smoking bucket tracked to Sunchaser was found in the bottom of a 20- cubic-yard dumpster in Aberdeen's LeMay Industries/Grays Harbor County waste facility. The bucket contained an unknown corrosive acid. The initial sample from the acid bucket was so corrosive it dissolved the glass sampling rod.
The dumpster also contained other containers of paint, paint thinners and resins from Sunchaser. These wastes are also considered hazardous because they are flammable.
A group of school children was touring the waste facility at the time of the incident, but none was exposed to the chemical release. Workers at the waste facility, while protected to a certain degree, were exposed to the fumes from this incident.
In a later incident on Aug. 21, an Ecology inspection revealed inappropriate storage, labeling and containment of 64 drums of unknown material with a strong solvent odor. Ecology is working with Sunchaser to have the company properly test and classify these materials.
Any drums that contain hazardous wastes will have to be disposed in accordance with the state's dangerous-waste regulations. Additional improvements are being sought in the way the company handles it waste solvents, paints and fiberglass resins.
"Washington's boat-building industry needs to understand that this kind of dumping is unacceptable. It's a threat to human and environmental health," said K Seiler, a hazardous-waste manager with Ecology.
More than 8,000 generators create more than 241 million pounds of hazardous waste annually in Washington. The handling and disposal of these wastes is subject to strict requirements. Improperly managed, they can contaminate water, soils or air and cause severe threats to the public health, plant and animal life.
Sunchaser Corporation is located at 119 Endresson Road.
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
