NH Recycler Pleads Guilty to Misdemeanor Charge

The state of New Hampshire’s Attorney General Michael Delaney, and Michael Hubbard, special agent-in-charge of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s criminal investigation division, have jointly announced Gateway Resource Recovery LLC, a scrap metal recycling firm headquartered in Salem, N.H., has pled guilty to one count of misdemeanor reckless conduct in Rockingham (NH) County Superior Court.

Under the state’s hazardous waste laws, scrap metal dealers may only accept lead-containing material that would otherwise constitute hazardous waste if it meets the definition of a scrap metal.

The reckless conduct charge stems from an incident in which Gateway handled a powdery lead-containing material from a firearms range, which did not meet the definition of scrap metal. Gateway lacked the required permit and ability to handle lead in this form, including tracking its ultimate disposition.

The AG’s office says that pursuant to the terms of the plea, the court fined Gateway $20,000, with $10,000 suspended for a period of three years provided that Gateway fulfills a number of conditions.

Gateway is prohibited from accepting any lead-containing material in powder form that qualifies as hazardous waste; and is required to keep documentation showing that lead containing-material it does accept, which would otherwise be hazardous waste, qualifies for the "scrap metal" exemption. 

The company is also required to develop written protocols for its personnel dictating the proper procedure to follow when unacceptable material is delivered to or is discovered at the facility; and a Gateway representative is required to attend Department of Environmental Services' classes on hazardous waste and disseminate the information to Gateway personnel.

According to the release, the disposition is the result of cooperative effort between the New Hampshire Attorney General's office, the U.S. EPA's Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.