Barrels of hazards
Container recycling rife with spills, fires, risks
The barrel recycling industry that touts a friend-of-the-environment image instead has a record of spills, fires and explosions plus ground, air and water pollution, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found.
An examination of records for 50 barrel recyclers in six states found 35 with violations and complaints — including some repeat violations — but companies were rarely fined.
“There are parts (of the industry) that are very dangerous and you really have to stay on top of it,” said an executive who has spent 20 years in the industry and asked not to be named to protect his job. “The problem is nobody does, because (drums and containers) are like rabbits — they keep coming.”
“The narrative has always been this is a recycling company. It is not a recycling company. It is an unlicensed hazardous waste facility masquerading as a barrel company.” Colin O’Malley Attorney who handled lawsuits against a Chicago barrel company
A group of workers poured leftover chemicals into a 250-gallon plastic container sitting on the floor of a Joliet, Ill., plant that recycles and refurbishes barrels and totes. “Go feel that and tell me if it’s warm,” a supervisor said when they were finished. It wasn’t, so the men went to lunch. When they came back, the container was a hot cauldron sending smoke and liquid to the ceiling like a giant Roman candle.
The Joliet Fire Department was called, as was the hazardous materials crew. It took six hours to clear the scene at Tote Detailing. No one was injured, but the October 2014 incident was another alarm for the facility — and the barrel reconditioning industry.
The industry, which presents itself as a friend of the environment, has a hidden record of chemical spills and deadly explosions, frequent fires, and pollution of the air, ground and water, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found.
The Journal Sentinel reviewed a decade’s worth of state and federal environmental and workplace records for 50 barrel recycling plants in Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Florida, Texas and California.
The examination found that 35 of the plants had violations and complaints — including several with repeat violations — but the companies rarely were fined by regulators, and when they were, the tallies were typically $15,000 or less.
A plant in California was cited for storing hazardous waste without a permit. One in Indiana was keeping chemicals on site before a major fire. And a plant in Florida was cited for polluting the air through its sandblasting operation.
Multiple plants triggered complaints from nearby residents about the air being fouled.
The findings build on what the Journal Sentinel found in an earlier investigation into a string of barrel recycling plants that include three in the Milwaukee area. Those plants were endangering workers and residents when chemicals were mixed together, causing reactions and sending noxious fumes into the air.
The Journal Sentinel’s analysis examined records of plants belonging to the industry trade group Reusable Industrial Packaging Association, or RIPA, which represents about 90% of the nation’s barrel recycling operations.
The problems are likely much deeper. Some of the worst plants don’t belong to RIPA and are virtually unknown to regulators — and those companies handle the dirtiest drums for companies that are eager to quietly get rid of hazardous waste illegally, according to both an industry executive and an outside consultant, who asked not to be named to protect their jobs.
“There are parts (of the industry) that are very dangerous and you really have to stay on top of it,” said the executive, who has spent 20 years in the industry. “The problem is nobody does, because (the drums and containers) are like rabbits — they keep coming.
“You can’t process them fast enough.”
Each year, 27 million drums and totes are proc-