Home Local News E.P.A REACHES CLEAN UP AGREEMENT ON FORMER RECYCLETRONICS SITE

E.P.A REACHES CLEAN UP AGREEMENT ON FORMER RECYCLETRONICS SITE

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached a settlement with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company to resolve alleged waste violations at a facility owned by the company in Sioux City.

In the settlement, BNSF agreed to clean up an estimated 2 million pounds of broken cathode ray tube glass, a hazardous waste, placed and stored there by the previous occupant, Recycletronics, which was owned by former city councilman Aaron Rochester.
The Sioux City facility was acquired by BNSF in 2014.

In 2017, EPA conducted an inspection of the site and determined that the accumulated, broken CRT glass at the site contained lead concentrations that exceeded federal limits.

Through a Consent Agreement and Final Order filed by EPA on May 21st, the Agency approved the work plan. BNSF will have about four months to complete the cleanup.

The Sioux City facility is one of six sites in Iowa and Nebraska where an estimated 16.9 million pounds of CRT glass were placed and stored by Aaron Rochester and Recycletronics.

Neither Rochester nor Recycletronics ever obtained a hazardous waste permit to store the CRT glass at the sites, which led to a criminal indictment for Rochester.

He currently awaits trial and maintains he is financially unable to pay for the removal of the CRT glass.