News Release
T – 06 – 17
Barbara A. Lee, Director
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 3, 2017
Contact: Elizabeth Scott
DTSC_newsreleases@dtsc.ca.gov
DTSC files complaint against metal recycling facility in Fontana for hazardous waste law violations
SACRAMENTO – The Department of Toxic Substances Control filed a complaint against Advanced Steel Recovery, Inc. (ASR), a metal recycling facility in Fontana, for multiple violations of California’s hazardous waste laws.
The complaint alleges that ASR illegally stored and failed to determine if any of the compressed gas cylinders or heavy metal-contaminated soil that was accepted, generated, or stored at the site was hazardous waste. The California Attorney General’s Office filed the complaint in the Los Angeles County Superior Court on behalf of DTSC.
The complaint also alleges that ASR had multiple piles of soil contaminated with heavy metals exceeding hazardous waste levels throughout the ASR site. These piles were not contained, covered or labeled, as required by law, and were exposed to open air, wind and rain. ASR has no permit or other grant of authorization from DTSC to accept, treat, store or dispose of hazardous waste.
ASR is a metal recycling facility that receives scrap metal such as major appliances, automobile parts and demolition debris from industrial sources and the public.
The complaint also alleges that ASR:
- Improperly managed major appliances containing Materials Requiring Special Handing (MRSH) in a manner that could have resulted in the release, or prevented the removal of the MRSH;
- Failed to provide written certification at the time of the transaction that the MRSH had been removed from the major appliances by a certified appliance recycler;
- Failed to use a hazardous waste manifest when transporting the hazardous waste compressed gas cylinders and transported the cylinders to an unlicensed facility.
More information can be found on our Site Project Documents page.
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FOR GENERAL INQUIRIES: Contact the Department of Toxic Substances Control to report illegal handling, discharge, or disposal of hazardous waste or other environmental concerns at Calepa.my.salesforce-sites.com/complaints/Complaint.
The mission of DTSC is to protect California's people and environment from harmful effects of toxic substances by restoring contaminated resources, enforcing hazardous waste laws, reducing hazardous waste generation, and encouraging the manufacture of chemically safer products.