Stericycle in Morton Fined $72,000 for Waste Handling

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A $72,000 fine was issued to a medical waste company located in Morton last week by the Washington Department of Ecology for handling material it was not licensed for.

After repeated violations of federal waste regulations, Stericycle was fined and ordered to stop accepting hazardous pharmaceutical waste at its Morton facility, according to a press release from the Department of Ecology.

Andrew Wineke, communications manager for Ecology’s hazardous waste and toxics reduction program, said the company was licensed to handle biomedical waste, but not licensed to receive or store hazardous material.

Pharmaceuticals are categorized as hazardous waste and need to be segregated and sent to an appropriate facility, he said.

Wineke said the problems found at Stericycle included hazardous waste pharmaceuticals found in biomedical waste bins, as well as liquid waste found in a loading area and leaking from an autoclave, a machine used to sterilize biomedical waste.

The vice president of corporate communication for Stericycle said the company plans to appeal the fine.

“The notice from the Department of Ecology came as a surprise to Stericycle,” Jennifer Koenig said in a prepared statement. “We have been diligently and cooperatively working with the Department of Ecology on this and various other topics to further ensure environmental protection.”

Koenig said Stericycle has and will continue to work with its healthcare customers, as well as the Department of Ecology, to find solutions that will minimize improper management of discarded pharmaceuticals. She said in a press release the situation is complex because the waste in question is packaged at healthcare facilities.

“Managing hazardous pharmaceutical waste — which makes up less than 10 percent of all pharmaceuticals — is a complex process for healthcare generators,” Koenig said in her statement. “Stericycle will continue to work with the state and the healthcare community to safely and compliantly manage this waste stream.”

The Department of Ecology has been working with the Morton facility since 2012 when a management plan was devised to deal with the reoccurring issues. An inspection in November of last year determined the problems still remained.

According to Wineke, the goal of the fine is to get the company to take action and to come into compliance.

“It’s a significant penalty for us,” Wineke said of the fine. “As I said, we really tried to work with the company and offer technical assistance … The fine is our final step to say we need you to comply with these laws and protect the environment.”

He said the issues at Stericycle could cause environmental problems because if hazardous waste is put into a landfill, it could leak out and contaminate the groundwater or the landfill itself.

K Seiler, program manager for ecology’s hazardous waste and toxics reduction program, said although Stericycle has been working to fix the problems, the violations cited were apparent.

“We are encouraged that Stericycle is taking steps to address these issues, but our inspection found clear violations of federal hazardous waste regulations,” he said in a press release. “It’s essential that the company follows regulations to safely manage hazardous pharmaceutical wastes.”

The Department of Ecology is the lead agency for inspecting waste handling facilities and enforcing hazardous waste laws by both federal and state law.