Business & Tech

Lowe's to Pay $18.1M to Settle Environmental Violations Case

There are Lowe's stores in nearby Chino Hills, San Dimas and Puente Hills.

Lowe's will pay $18.1 million to settle a civil enforcement action claiming 118 of its California stores unlawfully handled and disposed of hazardous waste over a six-and-a-half year period, authorities in Los Angeles announced today.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office worked with 31 other state district attorneys and two city attorneys to resolve the environmental violations against North Carolina-based Lowe's Home Centers LLC.

Between 2011 and 2013, investigators conducted a series of waste inspections of Lowe's dumpsters. The inspections revealed that Lowe's was routinely and systematically sending hazardous waste to local landfills in California that were not permitted to receive it, prosecutors said.

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The inspections showed that at some Lowe's stores, instead of recycling batteries and compact fluorescent light bulbs that the company had gathered from customers at store recycling kiosks as part of a program to responsibly reduce waste, employees were unlawfully discarding the items directly into the trash, according to prosecutors.

Under the final judgment, Lowe's must pay $12.85 million in civil penalties and costs. An additional $2.1 million will fund supplemental environmental projects furthering environmental protection and enforcement in California, and Lowe's will fund hazardous waste minimization projects of $3.2 million.

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The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office will receive $125,000 as part of the settlement.

—City News Service


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