The Environmental Protection Agency hauled off nearly 200 drums of abandoned toxic waste June 18th from an industrial park south of Chandler, Ariz., where a now-defunct company once tried to extract precious metals from mine tailings.
The waste on the site included more than 3,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid sludge, which crews plan to remove from several large storage tanks before taking it away early this morning in 55-gallon drums. Some of the waste was improperly stored and labeled and had begun to degrade in the year since the company closed and left.
EPA officials will test the building and the site for any further contamination, but most of the waste appeared to have been contained, agency spokesman Mark Merchant said.
Electro Treatment Inc. had operated the ore recycling business at the San Tan Industrial Park, an enterprise of the Gila River Indian Community. The company went out of business last year and left behind the drums of chemicals and mining waste.
The business and the site were the subject of an EPA criminal investigation, Merchant said, though he declined to comment on the status of the investigation.
In May, the agency ordered Electro Treatment to clean up the site, but that order was ignored.
Based on a potential health and safety risk and at the request of the tribal council, the EPA began an emergency cleanup, repackaging much of the material, including other chemicals and ore tailings, for proper disposal.
The acid sludge was stored in several 1,000-gallon storage tanks and had degraded so far, the EPA had to send out a test sample to determine exactly what the material was.
Test results prompted the decision to haul the sludge away in drums rather than one large tank, Merchant said. That delayed completing the cleanup until today.
Cost of the cleanup was estimated at $92,000.
The EPA has ordered the defunct company to pay the bill, Merchant said, and will likely seek recovery of the money in court. Arizona Republic