Posted on: Saturday, April 13, 2002

Firm fined for violating hazardous waste rules

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

The state Department of Health has fined Bonded Materials Co. $265,144 for alleged violations of the state's hazardous waste rules.

The alleged violations occurred at two Bonded facilities at 150 Pu'uhale Road and 91-400 Komohana St., the department said.

Bonded's manager, Jeff Deer, denied the allegations, and said the company has a clean reputation. Deer said he he did not know if the company was going to pay the fine.

The company has the option of challenging the fine, Health Department officials said.

In February 2001, the Health Department received a complaint from a former employee of Bonded alleging improper disposal of hazardous chemicals.

Through an inspection, the Health Department found that Bonded was transporting its old stock of chemicals from Pu'uhale to Komohana and disposing of these chemicals at Komohana.

At Komohana, the old stock of chemicals, including flammable liquids, resins and other materials, were dumped into a makeshift "bin" that Bonded built out of old pallets and lined with plastic, the Health Department said.

The chemicals in the bin were then mixed with cement and allowed to dry, and after the mixture hardened, the concrete mixture was thrown into the trash bin for disposal, the department said.

The former employee further alleged that upon being directed to mix the chemicals he was not given the appropriate protective safety equipment and was only provided a paper face mask, the Health Department said. The chemicals spilled on him, which resulted chemical burns and respiratory problems.

The Health Department also said Bonded stored about 100 55-gallon drums at its Komohana facility, and many of the drums were in poor condition.