DUMPED TOXICS COST INNOCENT COMPANY.Byline: Alicia Doyle Daily News Staff Writer Mike Chicos was disgusted when he came to work one Monday morning and found two 55-gallon drums leaking toxic waste toxic waste is waste material, often in chemical form, that can cause death or injury to living creatures. It usually is the product of industry or commerce, but comes also from residential use, agriculture, the military, medical facilities, radioactive sources, and leaking in his company's trash bin. The old gray barrels exuded a hideous hid·e·ous adj. 1. Repulsive, especially to the sight; revoltingly ugly. See Synonyms at ugly. 2. Offensive to moral sensibilities; despicable. odor, Chicos recalls, and were hidden underneath a new painter's tarp. ``Whoever did it, did it purposely pur·pose·ly adv. With specific purpose. purposely Adverb on purpose USAGE: See at purposeful. Adv. 1. ,'' said Chicos, who had the illegally dumped drums investigated by the Fire Department, hazardous waste Hazardous waste Any solid, liquid, or gaseous waste materials that, if improperly managed or disposed of, may pose substantial hazards to human health and the environment. Every industrial country in the world has had problems with managing hazardous wastes. crew, environmental health officials and the Moorpark Police Department. After hours Adv. 1. after hours - not during regular hours; "he often worked after hours" of probing and searching, the agencies found no trace of labels, addresses or identification to track down whoever dumped the drums - which were later found to be filled with paint thinner A paint thinner is a solvent used to thin oil-based paints, or as a cleaning agent. Paint thinners include:
That meant Chicos' company was responsible for disposing the waste - at a cost of $1,000. ``It's just not fair,'' said Chicos, operations manager See datacenter manager. at Future Automation Inc. in Moorpark, where the waste was discovered on May 6 in the trash behind the business. ``If you create waste, you should be the one responsible for cleaning it up.'' There are roughly two reports of illegal dumping each month in Ventura County, said Doug Beach, manager of the hazardous material program of the county's Environmental Health Division. If officials can't find who is responsible, the owner of the property where the waste was found must pay for removal, Beach said. ``By law, it falls on the property owner,'' he said. Chicos fears his company may be ``red-flagged'' by other government agencies in the future. ``Six months from now, records won't show that it was dumped illegally,'' Chicos pointed out. ``It just shows there was hazardous waste discharged at my business.'' Hazardous material is also illegally dumped on fields, vacant lots, in trash cans In the Macintosh, a simulated garbage can used for deleting files and folders. The trash can keeps the files intact in case the user wants to restore them, but can be "emptied" from time to time to save disk space. and sometimes at residences, Beach said. However, if officials decide the waste could cause immediate danger, removal will be paid for by the state's ``super fund money,'' Beach said. If the waste falls on a city street or freeway, either the city or county is responsible for the cost of removal. Because the waste left in Chicos' trash bin didn't appear immediately dangerous, his company was charged $500 for each of the two drums needed to haul the material away. ``We're not responsible, but we're responsible for the bill,'' Chicos said. ``We all need the environment healthy for us to live. We all need to help take care of it.'' |
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