ROGERS — Shannon Weathers said Thursday that he offered to clean up his bankrupt HAZ-MERT business last year but was stopped by governmental red tape.
An inspection Tuesday by representatives of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality revealed leaks in some of the materials stored at the site, said Cecillea Pond-Mayo, public information officer for the department. The facility is at 510 W. Post Road.
The leaks prompted the department to issue an emergency order for cleanup of leaking containers of flammable liquid and liquid oxidizers, according to a department news release.
The leaks were moving toward each other along the floor of the warehouse, which could have resulted in a fire or chemical reaction, according to the release.
Waste Services Inc. of Little Rock was at the site Thursday after the bankruptcy court released $5,000 to use toward the cleanup.
“When it gets hot in here, the containers swell and leak around the bottom,” said Steve Neal, president ofWaste Services. “There are five or six drums we’re having to address. We’re doing containment and cleaning them up. We’re not moving anything out.”
HAZ-MERT collected hazardous waste, placed it into containers and disposed of it. The company also provided clean up services for hazardous material spills and leaks.
Weathers said his company was forced into bankruptcy in July 2009 because they were owed more than $600,000 from customers who were unable to pay.
HAZ-MERT was found in noncompliance of state regulations in November 2008 and agreed to a $130,000 settlement and to bring the facility into compliance.
“We compiled with everything and worked out a payment plan,” Weathers said. “But we never made the first payment. We had to file bankruptcy and the lawyers told us to hold off because of bankruptcy laws.”
Weathers said this week’s incident could have been averted had the Department of Environmental Quality given him permission to clean up his warehouse.
“When we filed bank-ruptcy, I tried to get ADEQ to let me dispose of my material,” Weathers said. “We had a big meeting in September of 2009 and I was told they didn’t think I had the finances to do it.”
Weathers said he showed them his financial support for the cleanup, and agency representatives said they did not want him inside the buildings.
“I asked in September of 2009 for four to six months to dispose of the waste,” Weathers said. “They told me that wasn’t a good enough timeframe. Now, here it is July, and it’s still not cleaned up.”
However, Pond-Mayo said implications arising from the September meeting are more complicated than paying for a cleanup.
“He had filed bankruptcy in July, that’s the big issue,” Pond-Mayo said. “He wanted the cleanup to be a credit toward his bankruptcy and we couldn’t accept that because his assets were tied up in bankruptcy.”
Still, Weathers said he “tried and tried” to dispose of the containers to keep theoriginal owners of the waste from having to pay for the cleanup.
“We don’t want the original owners to have to pay either,” Pond-Mayo said. “We’re not going after them, but we told them they are potentially liable. There’s a cradle to grave responsibility to insure waste is disposed of according to environmental law.”
What the ADEQ calls “environmental law” Weathers calls “bureaucracy.”
“I simply wanted to dispose of the waste,” Weathers said. “It’s been portrayed that we just locked the warehouse and walked away ... When we filed bankruptcy, just like anyother business, we had leftover inventory.”
“I’d been doing daily inspections and paying for the electricity until the ADEQ told me to stay away,” Weathers said. “Apparently, nobody’s been doing inspections like they should have. ”Despite the designation as hazardous materials, there’s little danger unless something goes drastically wrong, said Rogers Fire Chief Tom Jenkins.
“The materials are hazardous as a matter of classification,” Jenkins said. “Under the definition for that business, hazardous means something that can’t be used again for its original intent. For example, you change your oil and something gets into it where it can’t be reused.”
Jenkins said the Fire Department’s last inspection of the premises was 2007.
“It was scheduled to be inspected again in 2009, but [HAZ-MERT] had filed bankruptcy,” Jenkins said. “According to our records, it was a model facility. The chemicals were very well stored and segregated.”
Neighbors who live near the facility expressed little concern about the situation Thursday.
Terri Munnerlyn, who lives across the street, said she was at work when officials came by Wednesday to notify them of the situation.
“We could smell stuff over the years,” Munnerlyn said. “During the day yesterday, they said it was really strong - like bug spray. It still kind of worries me that that’s still over there.”
Directly to the east of the facility, in the Post Meadows subdivision, Lecia Mendez said her family is not worried.
“The fire and police departments told us there was a problem Wednesday,” Mendez said. “They said it would be taken care of within 24 hours.”WHAT’S AT HAZ-MERT?Rineco, a Benton company, in July 2009 submitted a bid to clean up the HAZ-MERT facility in Rogers. The total cost for the job was $318,020.70.
A partial list of what the bid showed in the HAZ-MERT facility includes:
Oil-based paint
Corrosive liquids and solids
Liquid pesticides
Oil/absorbents
Paint solids
Flammable liquids
Alkaline, lithium and NiCd batteries
OxidizerPCB containing material Non-PCB ballasts Mercury containing devices Ink Asbestos Flammable liquids Used oil Ammonia-based cleaners Water-based cleaners Antifreeze Dry-cleaning fluid Cooking oil Grease Pavement/roof sealants Adhesive/glue
Source: Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 07/23/2010