MARTINEZ — Companies that use pesticides throughout California have agreed to settle claims that they violated state law by mishandling hazardous waste and private information for $3.15 million.
Contra Costa District attorney Diana Becton announced the settlement in a statement Wednesday. The lawsuit she and San Mateo County District attorney Stephen M. Wagstaffe led against Clark Pest Control of Stockton, Orkin Services of California, and Crane Pest Control also included district attorneys in Alameda, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma counties.
Becton said that by the terms of the settlement, the three companies must comply within five years with a permanent injunction mandating significant operational reforms. She added that the settlement also resolved allegations the three companies discarded customer records containing private information.
Prosecutors accused the companies of disposing their pesticides and hazardous waste into trash bins destined for landfills that weren’t authorized to accept the materials. The investigation started in 2021.
Becton said that under terms of the judgement, the three companies will pay a combined total of $2.017 million in civil penalties, $400,000 in supplemental environmental projects, $333,000 in investigative costs, and $400,000 in credit for supplemental environmental compliance measures.
The reforms by the three companies must include adding a third-party dumpster auditor to audit a minimum of 10% of the companies’ facilities each year for five years, Becton said. She added that the reports of those audits must be reported to prosecutors.
The companies also must make all employees complete training to ensure compliance of pesticide and hazardous waste and maintain that proof of training for three years. Too, the companies must devote a minimum of 2,000 hours per year to the enhanced compliance for each year the settlement is active.
According to Becton, investigators statewide conducted undercover inspections of 40 dumpsters at 22 separate Clark and Orkin facilities from March 2021 through February 2022. She said the inspections showed thousands of unlawfully disposed items including pesticide containers with liquids, powders, foams, baits, pellets and aerosol sprays.
Hazardous batteries, e-waste, hand sanitizers, adhesives and cleaning solutions also were found in the bins, Becton said. She added that customer records dumped in the bins that were still readable — items such as service orders, contracts, route reports and invoices — showed privacy law violations.
Becton said all three companies “cooperated fully and promptly” with the prosecutors to correct the violations.
“We have changed and enhanced our practices and policies to help ensure compliance and better reflect the highest industry standards,” Clark spokesperson Matt Lievano said in an emailed statement. “Our primary goal remains to deliver the best solutions to help our customers manager their pest-control needs.”
Representatives for the two other companies did not respond to requests for comment.
District attorneys in Monterey, San Joaquin, Yolo, Orange, Riverside, San Diego and Ventura counties also were part of the lawsuit.
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