Walmart accused of dumping hazardous waste

Walmart was sued by California for allegedly dumping hazardous waste including toxic cleaning supplies, pesticides and batteries in local landfills.

The complaint against the retail giant for unlawfully disposing waste since 2015 at more than 300 stores was announced Monday by state Attorney General Rob Bonta.

“We are not talking about a few batteries and a can of insect killer here,” Bonta said at a press conference. “Walmart’s own audits found that the company is illegally disposing of hazardous waste in California at a rate of over more than 1 million items each year.”

Bonta said the discarded products can “seep into the state’s drinking water as toxic pollutants or into the air as dangerous gases.”

Walmart didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. California’s top attorney joined the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control and 12 California district attorneys on the complaint, filed in Alameda County Superior Court.

Inspections by the state in 2015 showed that Walmart continued to illegally dispose waste after it reached a $25 million settlement with the state in 2010 over waste management, Bonta said.

“From 2015 to 2021, California investigators conducted 58 inspections across 13 counties of trash compactors taken from Walmart stores,” according to a statement from Bonta’s office. “In each and every single case, they found dozens of items classified as hazardous waste, medical waste, and/or customer records with personal information.”

In addition to seeking damages under waste disposal laws, California also accused Walmart of failing to protect confidential customer information in violation of consumer privacy law.