Court orders TJX Companies, Inc. to pay $2.05 million for illegal disposal of hazardous waste
Author: District Attorney
Date:
12/14/2022 12:04:13 PM
San Luis Obispo County DA and quite a few different California DAs collectively settled a civil lawsuit in opposition to TJX Companies, Inc. for their improper disposing of hazardous waste into its common trash bins destined for municipal landfills.
District Attorney Dan Dow introduced that on December 9, 2022, a $2.05 million stipulated judgment in opposition to The TJX Companies, Inc. (“TJX”) was entered by the Monterey County Superior Court in case no. 22CV003142. This resolves allegations that TJX, which owns roughly 340 T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods shops in California, unlawfully disposed of hazardous waste. TJX has 4 amenities in San Luis Obispo County.
The multi-county lawsuit alleges that TJX improperly disposed of hazardous waste into its common trash bins destined for municipal landfills, which aren’t licensed to settle for hazardous waste. The hazardous waste included objects reminiscent of aerosol cans, batteries, digital gadgets, and cleansing brokers, in addition to different hazardous waste objects generated by way of the firm’s common enterprise actions.
This is the second settlement resolving allegations that TJX mismanaged hazardous waste at its California retail shops. In September of 2014, California prosecutors resolved comparable violations by coming into right into a stipulated judgment for which TJX paid $2,777,500 in civil penalties, prices, and funding for supplemental environmental initiatives.
The present stipulated judgment requires TJX to pay a further $2,050,000, which consists of $1,800,000 in civil penalties, $300,000 in supplemental environmental initiatives, and $250,000 in reimbursement of investigative and enforcement prices. In addition, the settlement contains provisions requiring TJX to proceed to make use of at the least one California compliance worker to oversee its hazardous waste compliance program and to endure waste audits in a portion of its California amenities to guarantee hazardous wastes are correctly disposed of in any respect shops. The firm should additionally adjust to injunctive necessities relating to hazardous waste administration.
TJX labored cooperatively with prosecutors throughout the investigation. TJX, like all retail shops, is required to correctly get rid of hazardous waste that’s generated in the regular course of its retail enterprise and to segregate it into separate containers to be certain that incompatible wastes don’t combine and trigger harmful chemical reactions.
The San Luis Obispo County Environmental Enforcement unit is assigned to the District Attorney’s Special Prosecutions Division. This unit is dedicated to defending public well being and security, together with oversight to guarantee the secure and lawful transportation and disposal of regulated waste. Environmental enforcement instances may be pursued in both legal or civil court docket. Examples of such instances embrace unlawful transportation or disposal of hazardous waste, unlawful streambed dumping or alteration, and instances involving employee loss of life or critical harm. The unit additionally goals to enhance public consciousness of environmental points by way of displays to native teams when referred to as upon.
To report suspected violations of our environmental legal guidelines, name your native police division or, if inside the unincorporated areas of the county, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office at (805) 781-4550. You may additionally discover help at San Luis Obispo County Environmental Health Services.
Please contact Assistant District Attorney Eric J. Dobroth at 805.781.5819 with any questions.
# # #
