Safety-Kleen Statement on California Settlement
Safety-Kleen said today it has reached a $15 million settlement with southern California regulatory officials that resolves all outstanding environmental issues involving the company, its customers and the state’s South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). The SCAQMD consists of four counties in the southwestern part of the state and the city of Los Angeles.
The settlement primarily addresses the assertion that Safety-Kleen provided cleaning solvents containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to some customers without making sure they had the necessary exemptions from SCAQMD air quality regulations restricting the use of such cleaning solvents. Although the company disputes the amount of VOC’s claimed to be released by the prosecutors as inconsistent with the facts surrounding the matter, under California law, in some circumstances, a company can be held responsible for how its customers may use its products. The settlement relieves Safety-Kleen’s customers of any liability for past actions.
As part of the settlement, Safety-Kleen also agreed to work closely with the SCAQMD to assure that all its customers fully understand the applicable regulations, and to ensure that the company provides solvent only to companies who have valid SCAQMD exemptions.
According to Safety-Kleen CEO David A. Eckert, “Safety-Kleen will continue to supply parts cleaning equipment and solutions in Southern California, so we are delighted to have this matter behind us. We remain committed to providing all of our customers safe, sound and effective solutions to meet their cleaning, recycling and waste management needs in a manner that keeps business in balance with the environment.”
This settlement comes after more than ten years of effort and the expenditure of millions of dollars in research and development by the company to replace its solvent-based cleaning systems with equally effective water-based systems. Since 1998, Safety-Kleen has converted 18,000 parts cleaning systems in Southern California to water-based systems and today only about 130 customers in the area use solvent-based systems.
Safety-Kleen parts cleaning solutions help safely clean automotive and industrial parts in auto dealerships and body shops, maintenance shops, printers, metal fabricators and a host of other companies around North America.
Contact: Eric Zimmer – Executive Vice President: Phone: (972) 265-2560 or eric.zimmer@safety-kleen.com