ANCHORAGE — Two companies owned by an Alaska Native corporation are facing federal fines over mismanagement of hazardous Anchorage construction waste in 2010.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday that UIC Roofing and UIC Construction will pay more than $140,000 in connection with reported violations of the federal Resource Conversation and Recovery Act. The law requires hazardous waste be transported with EPA approval to EPA-approved facilities.
Neither of the firms has admitted or denied the EPA’s allegations. UIC Roofing agreed to pay $59,724, and UIC Construction agreed to pay $80,456, the Alaska Dispatch News reported.
According to the settlement, the offenses occurred when UIC Roofing operated as Rain Proof Roofing. The company is accused of improperly storing and transporting more than 2,200 pounds of flammable paint-related materials containing arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium and lead.
“Specifically, UIC Roofing failed to: obtain generator and transporter identification numbers prior to transporting hazardous waste, prepare a hazardous waste manifest, and dispose of the waste at a RCRA permitted facility,” EPA officials wrote. “UIC Construction stored the hazardous waste without a RCRA permit until April 1, 2011, when the waste was shipped to an approved RCRA disposal facility.”
UIC officials, in an online response to the settlement, said the materials were ultimately disposed properly and that Rain Proof Roofing was a “closed subsidiary” of the corporation.
“UIC worked alongside EPA to remedy this situation in a fair and justifiable manner,” company officials wrote. “No injury to the environment, workers, or the public occurred.”
