Refinery Ordered to Move 6,000 Cubic Yards of Oil Bearing Materials

UPDATE: After posting this enforcement alert, Lion Technology recieved an official statement from a representative of the affected facility:

"We disagree with the characterization of Oil Bearing Materials as being hazardous waste and deny all other allegations. However, we continue to work cooperatively with agencies involved to resolve this matter. We continue to be dedicated to running the refinery in a safe, reliable, and environmentally responsible manner."

California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) on Friday ordered a California refinery to dispose of 329 dumpster-sized bins of oil bearing materials that DTSC says the owners accumulated speculatively on site. 
 
The company stored roll-off bins, twenty cubic yards a piece, filled with RCRA regulated hazardous wastes: petroleum wastewater treatment sludge (F037), slop oil emulsions solids (K049), heat exchanger bundle cleaning sludge (K050), API separator sludge (K051), and crude oil storage tank sediment (K169).
 
When recycled, reused, or reclaimed in certain ways, some hazardous oil bearing materials may qualify for exclusions under California’s hazardous waste regulations. But when materials are speculatively accumulated, i.e., they are stored on site with no real plan in place for recycling, they do not qualify for the exclusion and are regulated as hazardous waste. 
 
The facility must recycle or dispose of half of the material by June 30 and the rest by September 30. DTSC says civil penalties for the hazardous waste violations are forthcoming.

See DTSC's press release here.

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Tags: California, DTSC, hazardous waste, recycling, Title 22