State expects toxic waste facility in Stanislaus County to pay $430,000 in penalties
The state has assessed $430,000 in penalties against a used-oil business in Riverbank.
In a news release Monday, the state Department of Toxic Substances Control said it entered a settlement agreement with California Oil Transfer LLC over what the state called repeated violations of hazardous waste laws.
California Oil Transfer, at 5300 Claus Road, is a transfer facility for receiving used oil, antifreeze and oily wastewater. The hazardous wastes received at the site, situated in the Riverbank Industrial Complex, are stored temporarily and transferred by railroad cars to recycling or disposal facilities.
According to the news release, the state regulatory agency documented repeated violations at the Riverbank facility, including unauthorized acceptance of waste products, storage and commingling of hazardous wastes. The company also failed to keep proper records and stored more waste products than allowed in its permit, the state said.
“These were serious and repeated violations and it is critical that we do everything in our power to protect the community and to hold the company accountable,” DTSC Director Meredith Williams said in the news release. “The terms of this settlement can function as an educational tool to help the facility avoid violations going forward.”
The state department said it conducted inspections at the transfer facility in 2016 and 2017, resulting in a formal complaint last year.
Previous inspections, going back to 2014, found that the company moved rail tank cars, containing hazardous used oil, to areas of the property that lacked secondary containment in case of a leak or spill. That violation occurred 78 times, the news release said.
Inspections also noted that California Oil Transfer exceeded storage capacity limits on 37 different occasions. The authorized capacity limit was 50,000 gallons of hazardous waste, the state said.
An employee at the Riverbank business referred media queries to the owner at Kern Oil Filter Recycling in Delano. A receptionist said Monday the owner was not in the office.
