A Kansas plastics recycling company is finding out just how expensive it can be to mishandle hazardous wastes.
Integrated Plastics Solutions LLC has been ordered to pay $97,612 in restitution along with a $10,000 fine after pleading guilty to one charge of unlawful storage of a hazardous waste, according to U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom.
Owners of the El Dorado, Kan.-based company, Sean M. Riley and Brian J. Riley, previously were ordered to each pay restitution of $118,807 in the case. Sean Riley was sentenced to 18 months of probation and Brian Riley was sentenced to three years of probation, Grissom's office reported.
“In its plea, the company admitted that from 2009 to July 16, 2013, the company knowingly stored hazardous waste without a permit at its facility in El Dorado. The waste included paints and solvents. Many of the chemicals were highly flammable and subject to flash fire or explosion if not properly stored,” the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Kansas said in a statement.
Integrated Plastics Solutions also was ordered to pay a $400 special assessment.
The company calls itself a full-service recycler specializing in all types of plastics, X-ray film and non-ferrous metals, according to its' website.
Sean Riley and Brian Riley, both of Andover, Kan., each previously pleaded guilty in the case. Brian Riley pleaded guilty to one count of negligent exposure to a hazardous air pollutant. And Sean Riley pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting negligent exposure to a hazardous air pollutant, the U.S. Attorney's Office reported.
The stored hazardous wastes contained ethyl benzene, which is classified as a hazardous air pollutant.
“After becoming aware that the Kansas Department of Health and Environment was investigating the company's waste handling practices, [Brian] Riley allowed some paints and solvents to be dumped on IPS grounds, releasing ethyl benzene and exposing employees to the risk of flash fire and explosion,” the U.S. Attorney's Office has previously said in a statement.