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*After
admitting that it suppressed the reports, BFI abandoned plans to
expand the landfill(23,24)
BFI
continually broke the law at a landfill in Louisiana(1990)
*BFI
failed to apply proper cover material
*BFI
illegally disposed of infectious waste
*BFI
failed to keep litter from blowing off the landfill
*BFI
allowed
contaminated
liquid to seep from the landfill
*BFI
was eventually forced to close the landfill(25-27)
The following
BFI landfills have been the subject of legal or administrative
actions:
*
San
Antonio Texas: Garbage and Sludge odors, dust and blowing
debris, odors and mud
spread by garbage
trucks(1996-97)(28-29)
*
Donna Texas: air and water pollution(1995)(30)
*
Baltimore,
Maryland: water pollution (1994(32)
*
Reading, Pennsylvania:
water
pollution(1994)(34)
*
Cleveland Ohio: odor and noise(1992,1997)(34,35)
*
San Mateo, California: storm water runoff destroys
streambed(1993)(36)
*
Pittsburgh, California: Odors, blowing dust, blowing
trash(1993)(37)
*
Ohio, Alabama, and New York: illegal burying of sludge(1991(38)
*
Louisiana: odors and noise; 1400 violations of Hazardous waste
regulations :
(1989, 1990,1993)
(39,40)
* Illinois:
depositing waste in excess of permit level(1997)(41)
* Virginia:
odors(1997)(42)Problems/Violations
BFI and its subsidiaries have a
long-checkered past when it comes to both polluting the
environment and dealing fairly with competition. BFI's
violations range from illegal disposal of hazardous wastes to
price fixing/ anti-trust violations; and, state officials have
pled guilty to accepting bribes from BFI. Recently, BFI compiled
a ten-year history of their company and presented it to
Pennsylvania's DER in response to questions about the company's
integrity with regards to a proposed 154-acre landfill in Berks
county. They admitted to the following:270 civil penalties,
administrative orders, permit or license suspensions and
revocations, as well as bond forfeiture actions, 10 misdemeanor
or felony convictions and pleas; 24 court decrees or settlement
orders and one pending courtcase.10. (It must be noted that this
is merely covers the period from 1981-1991.) In addition, BFI
and subsidiaries have disclosed more than $75.5 million in fines
and settlements from 1972-1994. (11) This is by no means a
comprehensive list. Complete data concerning fines on numerous
violations are simply unavailable. This data serves to
illustrate the scope BFI's violations and its history of
disregard for the law.
Anti-Trust/Miscellaneous
Violations
BFI's
violations in this respect tend to center on illegal attempts to
take over/monopolize individual markets by forcing out
competitors. In more than one instance, BFI and/state officials
involved with their permits or applications have plead guilty
to, or paid penalties to settle charges of bribery.
1984:
$3 million settlement to avoid inclusion in list of defendants
being sued by NJ for price fixing and bribery of state
officials.(12)
1984: Approximately $6 million out of court settlement
with Conservation Management concerning a lawsuit by
Conservation which alleged that BFI had bribed a Texas state
senator who was to help defeat Conservation's landfill
application.(13)
1985:
$130,000 settlement with state of Georgia, concerning charges of
price fixing, bid rigging and customer allocation designed to
undercut competitors.(14)
1987:
Guilty plea and $1 million fine to the Dept. of Justice for
price fixing and customer allocation conspiracy with WMI in Ohio
and Michigan.(15)
1988:
$350,000 settlement with the state of Ohio, in Toledo to settle
price fixing charges.(16)
1988:
$6.5 million civil court judgment in Burlington Vt., for
anti-trust activities including predatory pricing.(17)
1989:
A New Jersey grand jury indicted John A. Pinto (BFI regional
vice president,1975-1981) for customer allocation and coercion
in price fixing scheme from 1970-1984. In 1989, Pinto plead
guilty and paid a $50,00 fine. Pinto continued to receive
$125,000/year until 1984 when he retired. "As set forth in
testimony before the New York State Assembly Committee, Pinto
clearly had ties to organized crime, and was appointed by and
reported directly to, John Drury, BFI's president."(18)
1990:
$30.5 million out of court settlement resulting from a class
action lawsuit brought by customers against BFI and WMI alleging
price fixing and customer allocation.(19)
1994:
$4.2 million fine in Kane County. IL, for price fixing.(20)
1995:
Texas state employee with The Natural Resource Conservation
Commission pleads guilty to accepting a bribe from BFI in
exchange for a favorable permit ruling.(21)
1996:
Settlement reached by BFI and WMI with Justice Dept. in Memphis
Tenn., Georgia, Iowa and Louisiana for illegal contracts and
other anti-trust violations. BFI agreed to stop the practices
and no penalties were assessed. Concerning BFI's practices, the
Justice Dept said, BFI "intentionally used restrictive
contracts to inhibit competition and enhance its power over
commercial customers".(22)
1998:
BFI reached an agreement with the US Dept. of Labor. The company
was cited for gender discrimination against 11 women who had
applied for positions as truck drivers. The agreement included
$213,754 in back wages and guaranteed employment for the women.
(23)
1998:
BFI reached a $682,000 settlement with the Solid Waste Authority
in Contra Costa County California, considerably less than the
fines of $1.5 million originally proposed by the Waste
Authority.(24)
1998:
BFI was sued by the federal Equal Opportunity Employment
Commission in Pittsburgh Pa. The suit alleges that BFI
discriminated against a job applicant because of his age, and
that the company hired a younger, less qualified applicant.(25)
1998:
BFI was fined $331,000 for missed pickups in Jefferson Parish,
La.(26)
1999:
BFI paid Daughtery Township Pa, $800,000 to settle a lawsuit
filed in federal court. The township had accused BFI of avoiding
tax payments by illegally altering the manner in which it
calculated gross receipts for a landfill. (27)
Environmental
Violations
The
Clarion Ledger, (Jackson Miss.) had this to say about BFI after
concluding a ten month investigative report into environmental
problems resulting from the company's waste disposal practices:
"BFI's purring Cadillac could be more hearse then limousine"
and "BFI and its analogs offer essential services. BFI's
role is not at issue: its performance is."(28)
1976:
$200,000 statutory civil penalty in Texas for selling toxic
waste sludge as oil to be applied to state roads.(29)
1985:
$64,200 in fines paid to EPA for groundwater monitoring
violations at Missoula, Montana hazardous waste landfill.(30)
1987:
$23,000 in penalties for accepting inadequately protected
radioactive waste at Beatty, Nev.(31)
1987:
$25,000 fine for an illegal landfill expansion in Randolph,
Mass.(32)
1987:
$200,000 for various violations at solid and bio-medical waste
facility in Crescent Acres, LA.(33)
1987:
$104,000 in Hutchins Texas for failure to renew leach ate
discharge permit at solid waste landfill.(34)
1988:
$41,870 in penalties paid to State of Illinois and EPA for
contamination of groundwater.(35)
1988: $150,000 in Randolph Mass. for land filling more
waste than permitted.(36)
1988:
$2.5 million in penalties paid to state and EPA for over 2,500
violations in Livingston, La., hazardous waste landfill.(37)
1989:
$280,00 for non hygienic operating conditions at Crescent Acres,
La., Solid/Medical Waste facility.(38)
1990:
$3.525 million in penalties paid in a plea bargain arrangement
where BFI pleaded guilty to discharging hazardous waste into
drinking water supplies in Williamsburg Ohio.(39)
1990:
$1.55 million for over 1,400 violations at hazardous waste
landfill in Calcasieu, La.(40)
1990:
$659,000 in penalties to EPA for failure to obey post
closure monitoring requirements of solid waste landfill in South
Brunswick NJ.(41)
1993:
$1.1 million settlement with state of California for the bay
area's worst sediment spill ever, which resulted from a BFI
landfill and severely damaged two streams.(42)
1996:
Part of $11 million settlement in Johnson County KS., to clean
up Doepke-Holliday landfill that had been used from 1950-1970 to
store waste from homes, pesticides plants, oil refineries
etc.(43)
1997:
$5+million in fines and restitution in West Chester, PA for
illegal disposal of wastewater treatment sludge from 1989-1992.
Previously, BFI had pled guilty to a 23-count indictment
charging them with conspiracy, mail fraud, and Clean Water Act
charges involving the illegal disposal of the sludge at five
plants in Pennsylvania and Delaware by BFI Services West Chester
waste hauling operation. BFI was ordered not only to pay $3
million, but restitution of $6.4 million to four
wastewater treatment plants, as well as $1.5 million to
organizations that handle environmental concerns of the PA/DE
region.(44)
1998:
$1.5 million in penalties paid by BFI for violations of the
Clean Water Act in Washington D.C. by its Maryland subsidiary.
BFI admitted three criminal violations stemming from the release
of wastewater contaminated with improperly treated medical
waste. BFI corporate spokeswoman, Barbara Brescian said the
company settled, "in the interest of putting this two year
old situation behind us. BFI vigorously maintains our subsidiary
committed no wrong."(45)
Organizing
Tips
Determine
if your state has a "bad boy" law which prevents
companies with felony convictions from opening landfills or
other waste disposal operations. Share BFI's background,
(particularly their record of bribery), with friendly media
sources and encourage them to look into this. With regards to
landfills, determine the approved capacity of the landfill and
attempt to determine if BFI is exceeding landfill capacity.
(This seems to be a pattern common to the waste industry; keep
dumping while waiting for a landfill expansion permit and/or
just overfill approved capacity.) For more on strategy, see our
Generic Strategy Guide.
Special Thanks to EBIC intern Hillary Hollier for her work on
this project. |
