Thomas Steel Strip to pay hazardous-waste fine

WARREN -- Thomas Steel Strip has agreed to pay a $10,400 civil penalty to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for past violations of hazardous-waste requirements, the state said.
The agency said it inspected the steel processing plant on Delaware Avenue in March and April 2002 and found these violations: failure to adequately evaluate waste, failure to label or mark wastes, disposing of hazardous waste without a permit and failure to label a tank of used oil.
Also, the company transferred a container of scrap materials in April 2002 in a way that allowed rainwater contaminated with iron oxide to leak onto a road and into a transfer facility operated by Warren Recycling, the Ohio EPA said.
Once at the transfer facility, the contaminated material was mixed with nonhazardous waste and transported to a landfill not designed for hazardous waste.
The company notified local and state officials the day the event occurred. The contaminated water on the road was cleaned up and the material in the landfill was excavated.
The Ohio EPA said the company has corrected the other violations.
The fine goes to Ohio's hazardous-waste cleanup fund, which the Ohio EPA administers.