Parker Hannifin in Enumclaw fined more than $360K for hazardous waste violations

ENUMCLAW, Wash. — Parker Hannifin, a Fortune 500 engineering and tech corporation, paid more than $360,000 after allegedly violating environmental protections at its facility in Enumclaw, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in a press release Wednesday.

Inspectors with the EPA visited the Parker-Helac facility, a hydraulic equipment and industrial product manufacturer, in January of 2023 and found more than a dozen violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The violations posed a risk of toxic substance exposure to the facility’s employees and surrounding environment. The inspectors accused the facility of the following:

• treating dangerous waste without a permit.
• failure to adequately train staff about the risks associated with the treatment, handling, and storage of hazardous materials.
• failure to follow appropriate management standards for containers of hazardous waste.
• failure to conduct inspections of the facility.

In a 2019 facility inspection, the Washington Department of Ecology also cited five violations that the facility failed to fix. The EPA expanded the penalty to include the facility’s history of non-compliance with the act.

Parker Hannifin also recently settled a Clean Water Act case with USEPA, which found multiple violations of the general industrial stormwater permit at the same Enumclaw facility.

“Hazardous waste regulations are in place to protect people and our environment,” Ed Kowalski, director of EPA Region 10′s Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division, said. “It’s particularly troubling when a state cites a company for violations and the company fails to take compliance seriously. This case is an example of how the partnership between EPA and state agencies is critical to holding repeat violators accountable and protecting people and the environment from hazardous wastes.”

©2024 Cox Media Group