The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has settled with Apple Inc. over claims that one of the company’s facilities in Santa Clara violated federal hazardous waste laws. The EPA said on Nov. 18, the facility at 3250 Scott Blvd., near where Scott Boulevard intersects with San Tomas Expressway, had settled with the EPA and addressed hazardous waste management and air emissions issues to come into compliance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
According to the EPA, in Aug. 2023 and Jan. 2024, the agency conducted inspections at the facility after receiving a tip and complaint. During inspections and reviews of facility records, the inspectors “identified multiple violations of federal requirements for the management of hazardous waste.”
The EPA says Apple Inc. failed to do the following:
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Properly characterize hazardous waste.
Identify land disposal restriction requirements and provide written notification of the restrictions.
Maintain a permit to store hazardous waste for more than 90 days.
Control air emissions from a solvent waste tank.
Properly label and date hazardous waste containers.
Follow hazardous waste container management standards.
Perform and document daily inspections of hazardous waste tanks.
“Hazardous waste regulations serve as critical safeguards for facility workers, communities, and the environment,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division Director Amy Miller. “EPA’s actions will protect human health and the environment in the community of Santa Clara from the risk of hazardous waste.”
In addition to fixing the problems, Apple Inc. will pay a penalty of $261,283.
The RCRA was passed in 1976. It was established to set up a framework for the proper management of hazardous waste. The EPA’s work to maintain RCRA regulations is designed to “protect humans and the environment from exposures to pollutants in hazardous waste.”
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