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Department of Ecology News Release - December 4, 2002
02-216
SPOKANE - A Spokane laboratory that processes molds, pollen and other allergens for use in allergy treatment and diagnostic products is being fined $27,980 for pouring hazardous chemicals down the drain to Spokane's sewage treatment plant.
Biopol Laboratory Inc., located at 327 E. Pacific Ave., is being penalized because the firm has not been sending its toxic chemicals to a proper "treatment, storage and disposal" (TSD) facility. Instead, the company's written procedures direct staff to pour the mixture, which includes mold media, phenol, acetone and ethanol, down the drain with running water.
The fine also covers the company's failure to report discharges of dangerous waste to Ecology, and its failure to identify, classify and record the kind of wastes that are stored on-site.
Biopol's facility houses the administrative offices, main laboratory, mold laboratory, microbiology laboratory and chemistry laboratory. Mold, pollen, yeast and other raw materials are processed on-site and packaged for shipment.
"The chemicals have been exposed to the environment and could very well have come into contact with people," said Emily Celto of Ecology's Spokane office. "It's not just a regulatory violation. It violates people's right to an environment that won't make them sick."
Members of Ecology's technical assistance and compliance staff have visited the facility on numerous occasions over the past 10 years, and the company never disclosed information about the mold-processing waste, Celto said. In fact, a statement on file with the city of Spokane states that Biopol does not "dispose of any solvents, sludges or chemicals to the city sewer."
Biopol may appeal the fine by filing an "application for relief" with Ecology within 15 days and by filing an appeal with the state's Pollution Control Hearings Board within 30 days.
Contact: Jani Gilbert, public information, 509-456-4464; pager, 509-622-1289
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
