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Department of Ecology News Release - April 16, 2003
03-066
SPOKANE - An ongoing environmental training program for Department of Corrections (DOC) employees will settle the majority of a penalty the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) assessed last October.
DOC was fined $54,000 after Ecology inspectors observed several violations of state dangerous-waste rules over several years at the penitentiary in Walla Walla.
Under the new settlement, approved by the state's Pollution Control Hearings Board this week, the DOC will pay $10,800 of the original penalty and use the remainder, $43,200, to develop a training program and deliver the training to staff statewide.
Ecology fined the penitentiary because it failed to properly manage its dangerous wastes, such as paints, used oil, anti-freeze, dental wastes and solvents. According to inspection reports, the waste was not clearly and correctly labeled, some of it was being illegally stored, and by law some should have been removed from the facility for proper disposal.
In addition, the prison failed to conduct proper inspections of its dangerous waste, and the penitentiary staff had not been trained to properly handle dangerous waste.
"We've seen the Department of Corrections really sit up and take notice this time," said Greg Sorlie, who manages the state's hazardous-waste program. "We believe environmental protection is a much higher priority now, and we are happy to work with them on a superior training program for staff."
The DOC operates 13 prisons, two pre-release installations, 15 work-release facilities and 71 community-corrections field offices. The agency also operates Correctional Industries within the prison system, where inmates manufacture license plates, office furniture, uniforms and other government supplies.
Many of the facilities generate dangerous wastes during both industrial and maintenance activities. Staff will receive training in handling the wastes properly and complying with other environmental requirements related to the prisons' wastewater treatment plants and several sources of air pollution.
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Media contacts: Jani Gilbert, public information manager, 509-329-3495; pager, 509-622-128Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
