Parker Hannifin has paid another fine to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
Earlier this year, the Enumclaw branch paid a $64,000 fine for violating the Clean Water Act for failing to manage, sample, and monitor discharge controls into local waterways, among others.
But the EPA recently leveled another dozen violations and a $366,000 fine against Parker Hannifin after a January 2023 inspection for violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, including treating dangerous waste without a permit, failing to train staff about the risks regarding said treatment, and failing to follow appropriately contain the waste.
“These and other violations created an increased risk of releases of toxic substances and worker exposures,” the EPA said in an Oct. 16 press release, which noted that the Washington State Department of Ecology also found numerous similar violations during a 2019 inspection. “… EPA thus increased the penalty to account for this history of non-compliance.”
According to the EPA report, “hazardous waste” in this case includes the disposal of alcohol cleaning wipes, excess paint and dirty solvents, used oil, batteries, and universal waste lamps like fluorescent lights.
The report noted instances of lack of hazardous waste labeling, hazardous waste disposal containers not being closed or meet EPA hazardous waste accumulation requirements like accumulation start dates, allowing paint and dirty solvents to dry before being treated as waste, in addition to the lack of weekly Central Accumulation Area inspection reports, which Hannifin Parker employees said they did not have those records dating back to Aug 2019.
Parker Hannifin has paid the fine, but the manufacturing company neither admits or denies these allegations, as per a consent agreement between the two parties.
“In ongoing coordination with the EPA, Parker is taking corrective actions related to the handling of waste and stormwater at the Enumclaw facility to achieve full compliance with applicable requirements,” said Parker Hannifin Vice President Chris Farage in an email interview. “These measures focus on the safety of team members, the surrounding community and the environment in alignment with Parker’s broader sustainability commitments.”
