News Release
T – 07 – 15
Barbara A. Lee, Director
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 25, 2015
Contact: Russ Edmondson
(916) 323-3372
Russ.Edmondson@dtsc.ca.gov
Schaffer Grinding Company, Inc. to Pay $160,000 to Settle Hazardous Waste
Violations, Including Illegal Exportation of Hazardous Waste
SACRAMENTO – The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) announced that Schaffer Grinding Company, Inc. will pay a $160,000 penalty to settle allegations that it violated hazardous waste laws.
Schaffer operates two facilities in Los Angeles County, one in Santa Fe Springs and the other in Montebello. The Sante Fe Springs facility generates hazardous waste as a byproduct of services it provides for the aeronautical industry. The facility operates several machines that grind metal sheets, including titanium, magnesium and stainless steel.
Schaffer is alleged to have exported hazardous waste to an unauthorized facility in Mexico, transported hazardous waste between its facilities without a valid registration, caused hazardous waste releases at its Santa Fe Springs facility and accepted and stored hazardous waste without a permit at its Montebello facility.
DTSC enforcement and emergency response staff found that, between May and September of 2011, Schaffer sent 332 55-gallon drums of titanium and magnesium grindings to a solvent recycling facility in Tecate, Mexico. This is inorganic hazardous waste and the Mexican company (Recicladora Temarry de Mexico, S.A. de C.V.) is only authorized to receive and treat organic hazardous waste.
Schaffer has stopped exporting its hazardous waste to Recicladora Temarry and agreed to operate in a manner to minimize the release of hazardous waste, use a registered hazardous waste hauler to transport its hazardous waste and to stop accepting and storing hazardous waste without authorization from DTSC.
The Consent Order can be found here.
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FOR GENERAL INQUIRIES: Contact the Department of Toxic Substances Control by phone at (800) 728-6942 or visit www.dtsc.ca.gov. To report illegal handling, discharge, or disposal of hazardous waste, call the Waste Alert Hotline at (800) 698-6942.
The mission of DTSC is to protect California’s people and environment from harmful effects of toxic substances by restoring contaminated properties, enforcing hazardous waste law, reducing hazardous waste generation, and encouraging the manufacture of chemically safer products.