PHILADELPHIA (April 29, 2024) – Max Environmental Technologies, Inc. (MAX) has agreed to several actions to ensure compliance with federal and state hazardous waste safeguards at the company’s waste facility in Yukon, PA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today.
MAX owns and operates a 160-acre facility, surrounded by agricultural and residential properties, about 30 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, PA in Westmoreland County. According to EPA, this site is an area with potential environmental justice concerns. MAX conducts waste operations under permits issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA). RCRA is the principal federal hazardous waste storage and disposal statute.
Among the hazardous wastes at the MAX facility are wastewater treatment sludge, corrosives, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, selenium, silver, electric arc furnace dust, and waste acid/pickle liquor. Waste management units include five closed impoundments, an active solid waste landfill, waste storage tanks and containers, hazardous waste treatment units, and a leachate management system that generates sludge from wastewater treatment.
EPA officials inspected the facility in March 20-24, 2023, to determine MAX’s compliance with environmental regulations, including the terms of its PA DEP-issued CWA and RCRA permits. According to EPA, its inspectors documented several RCRA permit violations, including but not limited to: (1) unlawful disposal of hazardous waste in the solid waste landfill at the facility, (2) failure to maintain a containment building, and (3) failure to keep the hazardous waste containers closed to prevent hazardous waste release.
The Consent Order announced today addresses RCRA and state hazardous waste requirements. MAX has agreed to immediate measures to eliminate the potential release of solid and hazardous waste into the environment and to ensure that future ongoing operations do not cause or contribute to releases at the facility. The RCRA consent order requirements include, but are not limited to:
- Prohibition of disposal of untreated and treated hazardous waste in the facility’s landfill unless it has been reviewed and analyzed by a third-party auditor and unaffiliated PA DEP-accredited laboratory.
- Retention of an EPA approved third party Professional Engineer to perform a structural evaluation and recommendations to repair or modify the containment and processing building and containment pads.
- Monitoring and sampling of residential wells adjacent to the facility.
- Monthly progress reports and meetings with EPA project managers to evaluate the compliance actions stated in the Consent Order
EPA worked closely with PA DEP in investigating conditions and negotiating this consent order that addresses compliance with RCRA and state hazardous waste compliance. EPA and PA DEP are currently reviewing MAX’s compliance with its CWA permit.