Home Depot agrees to pay $27 million in settlement
OAKLAND » Home Depot has been ordered to pay millions for illegally dumping hazardous waste and not protecting customer identity, the district attorney announced Thursday.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brad Seligman ordered Georgiabased Home Depot to pay $27.84 million to resolve the allegations of not only the hazardous waste, but also throwing away records that contained private customer information, according to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.
The civil complaint alleged that more than 300 Home Depot stores and centers, including some in Alameda and Santa Clara counties, were routinely sending hazardous waste into local landfills where they were not allowed. That included pesticides, aerosols, paint and colorants, solvents, adhesives, batteries, mercury-containing fluorescent bulbs, electronic waste, key shavings and other toxic, ignitable and corrosive materials, the district attorney’s office said.
The home improvement store was also accused of tossing out documents containing private customer information, such as addresses and phone numbers, into typical trash bins — potentially exposing them to identity theft.
District Attorney Nancy O’Malley, along with eight other prosecutors throughout the state and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra were part of the civil enforcement action first filed Feb. 15. Other prosecutor’s officers included Santa Clara, Monterey, Yolo, Riverside, San Diego, San Joaquin and Ventura counties, plus the Los Angeles city attorney, with assistance by the Department of Toxic Substances Control.
“Today’s settlement marks a victory for both environmental and consumer protection throughout California,” said O’Malley in a statement.
She said her office works tirelessly to investigate and prosecute companies that endanger resources with illegal dumping.
District attorney inspectors investigated Home Depot dumpsters and found that 45 of the trash compactors contained hazardous waste, according to the district attorney’s office.
Home Depot took steps to cooperate with the investigation and also conducted its own waste assessment. Customer records are now placed in lock boxes in strategic locations throughout its stores.
As part of this settlement, Home Depot agreed to hire “hazardous waste compliance managers” and will conduct daily store inspections to make sure waste is properly handled.
In Alameda County, 12 Home Depot stores are subject to the terms of the set- tlement.
Of the $27.84million settlement agreement, Home Depot will have to pay $18.48 million in civil penalties and costs, $2.51 million to fund supplemental environmental projects and $6.84 million for compliance environmental measures.