Henry Kell, president of Hightech Now Inc., was sentenced to to 30 days in jail, two years probation and a $5,000 fine in Multnomah County, Ore., Circuit Court for second-degree unlawful disposal, storage or treatment of hazardous waste in connection with a computer recycling warehouse fire that occurred in Portland in June 2002.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality had issued Kell and Hightech Now a total of $71,962 in penalties for hazardous waste violations this past November. The majority ($52,385) of the penalties was for storing hazardous waste at a northwest Portland computer recycling warehouse for more than four months without a hazardous waste storage facility permit. Kell appealed the penalties, and his appeal is still pending.
After the fire, which destroyed hundreds of monitors and components, Kell failed to follow up on hazardous waste determinations after the fire, eventually abandoning the property and forcing the owners to arrange and pay for the proper disposal of about 112 tons of toxic hazardous waste.
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