Recent EPA enforcement actions against several New England companies illustrate the importance of understanding and following federal regulations regarding handling and disposal of toxic substances. Because they did not test the waste, the companies sent for disposal or recycling waste materials that were later found to be contaminated with PCBs.

"If your company's waste could potentially contain PCBs, or if you're disposing of unknown materials, get it tested first – waste must be properly characterized and tested before sending it out for disposal," said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator of EPA Region 1 (New England). "This problem has the potential to cause serious harm to people and the environment. The good news is that it's easy and inexpensive to test waste before shipping it for disposal or recycling."

The following enforcement actions involved mishandling wastes that contained PCBs:

A Connecticut property owner and one of their tenants are being held responsible for PCB contamination at a leased property in Bridgeport, Conn. EPA issued an Administrative Complaint seeking $32,500 in penalties against the property owner, after discarded oil in a catch basin at the property was found to be contaminated with PCBs.

Two Massachusetts companies, Clean Harbors of Braintree, Inc., of Braintree, Mass., and Massachusetts Electric Company, doing business as National Grid USA, were held responsible for failing to adequately test and characterize PCB waste after an Oct. 2005 oil spill in Malden, Mass.

StoneHill Environmental Inc., of Portsmouth, N. H., will pay a $2,000 penalty under a settlement with the EPA for having shipped 6.37 tons of PCB-contaminated sandblast grit to a Maine recycling facility. StoneHill failed to wait for test results which revealed that the sandblast grit contained PCBs. The sandblast grit in turn was used in paving materials at the Maine recycling facility's parking lot, where they are believed to pose minimal risk to human health.