Attorney General Kelly A. Ayotte and Department of Environmental Services ("DES") Commissioner Thomas S. Burack announce the court approval of a settlement between the State and Luminescent Systems, Inc. of Lebanon, New Hampshire for violations of the State's hazardous waste management laws.

The State alleges in a lawsuit filed in Grafton County Superior Court that Luminescent violated the State's hazardous waste laws by illegally disposing of 15,085 pounds of the company's hazardous waste in the City of Lebanon's Solid Waste Landfill located in West Lebanon, New Hampshire. Luminescent manufactures electroluminescent lamps, aviation light products and data entry equipment. DES discovered during an inspection that waste paint filters and wipers being sent to the landfill were actually regulated for chromium toxicity and should have been disposed of as hazardous waste. The State's lawsuit alleges, among other things, that Luminescent failed to conduct any chemical analyses on the wastes to determine if they were hazardous and, as a result, illegally disposed of the hazardous wastes in the landfill over a 15- year period.

The court-approved agreement imposes a $90,000 civil penalty for the violations. The cash portion of the penalty totals $50,000 and will be paid to the State's Hazardous Waste Cleanup Fund. The company must also fund $40,000 in contractor costs for the construction of a hazardous materials storage shed at the City of Lebanon Landfill. The storage shed will provide temporary storage for hazardous waste and other hazardous materials that must be shipped off-site to a permitted wastes treatment or disposal facility.

Attorney General Ayotte said: "This office will continue to actively enforce violations of the State's hazardous waste management laws, which serve to protect the public's health and the environment. This settlement illustrates that businesses need to pay close attention to these environmental laws and to properly identify and dispose of their hazardous waste."

DES Commissioner Burack added: "The Department is pleased that Luminescent Systems took full responsibility for these violations and quickly came into compliance following the inspections. The company's funding under this settlement of the estimated costs of constructing a hazardous materials storage shed at the landfill will help to provide a safe means to collect and manage household hazardous waste for the residents of Lebanon."

Court-approved Settlement and State's Lawsuit