PA Agency Fines Company for Waste Management Violations

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has fined M.W. Farmer Co., South Williamsport, PA, $250,000 for numerous violations of the Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act and refusal to follow a previous DEP order to halt waste acceptance, announced Robert Yowell, regional director.

“This company has continued to operate in violation of state law and regulations, despite past enforcement action by DEP,” Yowell said. “This penalty should make clear that we are not going to tolerate such flagrant behavior.”

M.W. Farmer Co. installs and removes underground storage tanks, and generates solid waste in the process, including contaminated soil, water and petroleum products. DEP had issued an order to the company in June 1993 prohibiting it from accepting any solid waste at its site for processing, storage or disposal.

Inspections conducted by DEP in May, June, November and December 2003 revealed that M.W. Farmer Co. was operating a waste transfer station without a permit; receiving waste in violation of a previous DEP order; failing to label residual waste storage tanks; failing to have secondary containment for the residual waste storage tanks; and obstructing a department investigation.

The latter charge was part of the civil penalty because company owner Michael Farmer refused to allow DEP investigators to sample the contents of two aboveground storage tanks on his property in November 2003. DEP officials obtained a search warrant and sampled one of the tanks, which revealed the tank contained residual waste in the form of petroleum hydrocarbons that included the presence of lead and barium.