Corporate Dumping

THE PRESENCE of various types of toxic substances in our environment has become increasingly widespread—a fact that former President Jimmy Carter once called “one of the grimmest discoveries of the modern era.” Chemical sales in the United States exceed a $112 billion per year, with as many as 70,000 chemical substances used in commerce. There is no clear-cut definition of what a hazardous waste crime includes, but one definition of a hazardous waste crime is: any act that violates a hazardous waste statute.

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 is the main statute that outlines the various types of activities that are regulated and punishable. Under RCRA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has defined hazardous waste as any solid waste, or combination of solid wastes, that because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics may: cause, or significantly contribute to an increase in mortality or an increase in serious, irreversible or incapacitating reversible illness; or pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly treated, stored, transported or disposed of, or otherwise managed. (42 U.S.C. ‘6903 (1983 ed., supp. 1991).

[Page 214]While hazardous waste crimes vary according to local industry or population type, similar methods of operation are used regardless of the type of waste or material involved. One widespread practice involves criminal activity by a generator, transporter, broker, or treatment, storage, and disposal facility. For example, a generator may act alone or conspire with others to illegally dispose hazardous waste, either by on-site disposal or by removal and disposal at unauthorized points. Often, an unlicensed transporter will contact unwitting (or uneducated) generators and convince them that a low-cost disposal strategy is possible. The transporter may conspire with a known treatment, storage, and disposal facility or dispose of the wastes after falsifying the manifests. A less common practice, but one seen in several states, is to rent a truck, fill it with hazardous waste, and then abandon the vehicle.

Perhaps the most common form of illegal disposal of hazardous waste is midnight dumping. In a typical midnight dumping scenario, wastes are disposed of in the nearest isolated area. Agents of generating companies can directly commit these offenses or criminally conspire with waste transporters or treaters who, for a percentage of the legitimate treatment cost, will illegally dump the wastes. In some instances hazardous waste generators are the victims of fraud committed by midnight dumpers; payment is rendered by the generator to the treater for services that are never performed.