More than two dozen Vons stores in San Diego will have to change the way they deal with hazardous materials after parent company Safeway Inc. reached a $9.87 million settlement over alleged improper storage and disposal of hazardous waste.
Vons and Safeway employees were disposing hazardous waste in trash cans that eventually ended up in landfills, according to a release by the San Diego City Attorney's office.
Those potentially hazardous materials, which the report from the city attorney's office called "toxic, reactive, ignitable and/or corrosive materials," included over-the-counter medications, aerosol products, batteries, electronic devices, pharmaceuticals and pool chemicals.
A lawsuit was filed in Solano County by 43 agencies, including the San Diego City Attorney's office and District Attorney's office, when an investigation revealed Safeway's questionable handling of hazardous material.
The report also found shipments of hazardous and pharmaceutical waste were being redistributed to stores.
“Safely handling hazardous waste protects our environment and is vital to the health of all Californians,” District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said. “Our environmental protection team did an outstanding job prosecuting this case and collaborating with other agencies to arrive at today’s multimillion dollar judgment.”
The city attorney's office will receive $45,000 to fund the enforcement of the consumer and environmental protection laws. The grocery store chain is also putting new internal procedures into place to prevent future incidents.
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An additional $9.87 million in civil penalties and costs will be paid by Safeway. Some of that money will be used for supplemental environmental projects, the city said.
"Through this sort of collaborative effort by city attorneys and district attorneys throughout the state, business can be brought into compliance with the law and meet their responsibilities to protect our environment," said City Attorney Jan Goldsmith. "Not every landfill is designed and permitted to accept hazardous waste. The proper use of our landfills is of particular importance in San Diego."
