US party retail group Party City has been ordered to pay $878,750.00 to settle a hazardous-waste complaint as part of a settlement of a civil-environmental prosecution.
A Superior Court judge in the Californian county of Yolo ordered the company to pay the settlement just last week, as Party City Corporation was heard to have mishandled various hazardous wastes and materials throughout the state over a five-year period.
These hazardous wastes and materials included batteries, electronic devices, ignitable liquids, aerosol products, cleaning agents and other flammable, reactive, toxic and corrosive materials.
Over $75,000 of the settlement amount will go towards helping support various environmental training projects, including the prosecution of environmental violations. Of the rest of the settlement, $637,500 will be civil penalties, $135,000 will reimburse the costs of the investigation and $106,250 will fund supplemental environmental projects furthering consumer protection and environmental enforcement in California.
“Today’s settlement resolves this matter with Party City,” said County District Attorney Jeff Reisig. “To Party City’s credit, they were cooperative throughout our investigation and prosecution while we worked toward a fair resolution to their previous deficiencies.”
The terms of the settlement require Party City to hire an employee to strengthen the companies’ hazardous-waste programme as well as improve staff training and hazardous waste management.
