Business & Tech
Wal-Mart Settles Hazardous Waste Case
Retailer was accused of not training employees how to properly dispose of fertilizers, pesticides and other products pulled from shelves.
—Written by Rob Klindt
Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. agreed to settle a lawsuit this week by pleading guilty to criminal charges of improperly dumping hazardous products throughout California.
The Bentonville, Ark. retailer, with a neighborhood market at 1600 Saratoga Ave. #501, will pay an $81.6 million fine. The penalty settles claims by the Environmental Protection Agency that say the company improperly handled pesticides.
Wal-Mart entered its plea on Tuesday in federal court in San Francisco to misdemeanor counts of violating the Clean Water Act and not properly disposing of pesticides.
The company was accused of not training employees in its California and Missouri stores how to properly dispose of fertilizer, pesticides and other hazardous products that were pulled from shelves because of damaged packaging or missing labels.
A Wal-Mart spokeswoman told media outlets that the company has fixed the problem and that employees are better trained on cleaning up and disposing of hazardous products in a responsible way.
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