WMI Gets Fined and Lectured
Virginia Circuit Judge Thomas Hoover on Apr. 30 fined two subsidiaries of Waste Management Inc. U.S.$150,000 ($25,000 for each of six violations) for importing illegal medical waste into Virginia. The state Department of Environmental Quality had sought a fine of $525,000.
The fine was levied against Waste Management of Virginia Inc. and Waste Management of New York LLC, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch story.
Referring to Waste Management's testimony, Hoover criticized the adequacy of the company's inspection capacity. Rob Guidry, Waste Management's director of environmental health and safety compliance, testified that the waste from trucks is scattered on a warehouse floor in New York, scanned by four trained inspectors, and loaded for shipment.
The judged warned that any reoccurrence could invoke suspension of the company's doing business in the state.
The central argument during Apr. 30's nine-hour trial concerned the makeup of the regulated medical waste that Virginia law prohibits in landfills. Waste Management's assistant general counsel, Tom Corbett, said that the judge's ruling marked "for the first time ever a court opinion[ed] on what is regulated medical waste."
Judge Hoover said he was persuaded by the testimony of a University of Virginia epidemiologist.
Even minute amounts of blood or body fluids are capable of containing "blood-borne viruses and a bewildering variety of pathogens," Dr. Barry Farr told the court. (State inspectors discovered a variety of IV tubing, stained gauze pads and syringes, as well as two dripping urine bags, during a surprise inspection at the Charles City landfill.)
The judge also ordered the companies to abide by an earlier order banning them from disposing of regulated medical waste in the state. The company was fined $125,000 during 1998 for such violations.
Corbett was undecided whether the company will appeal.
State inspectors estimate that between two and five percent of the trailer's load was medical waste, with some smaller portion meeting the definition of regulated medical waste.
Waste Management reportedly has established a separate collection center in New York for medical waste.
The event that led to the court case increased Governor Jim Gilmore's determination to win legislative limits on landfill use in Virginia as well as prohibit barging of waste, which landfill companies seek for moving refuse from out of state.