DTSC conducts an unannounced Comprehensive Evaluation Inspection every year at the Kettleman Hills Facility to determine if the facility is operating in compliance with hazardous waste laws and regulations. These inspections are conducted to ensure that the facility strictly follows the conditions of the permit that DTSC has granted it.
Recent joint inspections in 2010 through 20212 conducted by US EPA and DTSC documented a number of violations. These violations include:
- Failure of the facility’s on-site laboratory to follow federally required procedures for analyzing hazardous waste.
- Failure to determine whether hazardous waste met the Land Disposal Treatment Standards before land disposal.
- Not properly treating hazardous waste before land disposal.
- Storing hazardous waste in open containers.
- Failure to report on-site spills of hazardous waste.
- Failure to report a manifest discrepancy in a timely manner.
Violations associated with the storage of waste in open containers have been corrected. US EPA and DTSC continue to work with Waste Management, Inc., to ensure that the laboratory meets all requirements for its effective and safe operation. Resolution of the other violations is currently under way.
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