Long Island cleaner target of federal civil complaint
Federal officials are seeking fines and other remedies from a New York cleaner
for perc-handling violations the government alleges have been going on at least
since 2000.
The civil complaint was filed last month in federal district court in Brooklyn,
NY, against White-Sun Cleaners Corp., its president and owner, Insun Yun, and
wwcleaners.com, for violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA).
The defendants are owners and operators of a drycleaning and laundry company in
Long Island City, NY.
The government’s complaint seeks injunctive relief requiring the defendants to comply with all
applicable requirements, monetary penalties of up to $37,500 for each day of
violation, and stipulated penalties for failure to comply with a 2002 consent
agreement.
According to the complaint, the defendants improperly treated and stored
hazardous waste containing perchloroethylene at their drycleaning facility.
In 2000, EPA inspected the White-Sun facility and found numerous RCRA violations
relating to the management, treatment, and storage of perc.
In April 2001, EPA sought a $134,988 fine for ten violations, which included the
mislabeling of 19 perc waste containers which were stored longer than
permissible by law and failure to minimize the amount of perc released into the
atmosphere.
In a 2002 settlement, White Sun agreed to pay a $10,800 cash penalty and make
improvements at its facility that EPA said would cost the company $60,000 over
three years.
At that time, White-Sun and Yun agreed to implement a supplemental environmental
project (SEP) which included requirements that, by specified deadlines, the
defendants would install a drycleaning machine that did not use perc; submit
periodic progress reports to EPA demonstrating their operation of the new
machine; and publicize the new machine.
However, in subsequent inspections EPA said it found continued violations of
RCRA and failure to comply with the consent agreement.
The new complaint alleges that the defendants failed to comply with RCRA’s requirements for the management of perc-contaminated waste by failing to test
the waste to determine if it was hazardous; failing to properly close and label
containers containing perc-contaminated wastes; and storing containers of
perc-contaminated waste without a hazardous waste permit.
The complaint also alleges that White-Sun and Yun fraudulently transferred the
assets of White-Sun to wwclareaners.com, d/b/a KY 34th Corporation, to avoid
obligations under the previous consent agreement with EPA.
The complaint was announced by Benton J. Campbell, United States Attorney for
the Eastern District of New York, and George Pavlou, US EPA Region 2 acting
regional administrator.
“The violations identified in the complaint demonstrate a serious and
longstanding disregard for the environment and for public health and safety,” said Campbell.
“This office is committed to vigorous enforcement of the laws regulating
hazardous wastes, particularly against repeat offenders,”he added.
The government’s case is being litigated by Assistant United States Attorney Edward Newman and
Assistant Regional Counsel Beverly Kolenberg of EPA.
