EPA Region 7 staff, which conducted an inspection of the Wichita plant in July 2006, discovered a series of violations of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), in terms of the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, disposal and management of hazardous wastes.
The violations included transport of hazardous waste without a proper manifest, and failure to perform hazardous waste determinations on primer-coated machine residue, industrial wastewater sludge, and chromium primer spillage in addition to operating as a hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facility without a RCRA permit by having an inadequate secondary containment system for its waste tanks.
The inspection further found that the company was operating as a hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facility without a RCRA permit.
The company was not having an adequate secondary containment system for its hazardous waste tanks, thereby failing to maintain the facility to minimize the possibility of fire, to properly close and/or date accumulation and storage containers of hazardous waste, to maintain an adequate contingency plan, and failing to provide and document hazardous waste training for its employees.
The EPA investigation of the Wichita facility is currently being conducted under the supervision of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
The facility generates hazardous waste, including industrial wastewater treatment filter sludge, primer residue waste containing chromium and cadmium, tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene waste from degreasers, and hazardous waste oil.
