Southern Union Natural Gas Distribution Company Convicted of Improperly Storing Hazardous Waste

EIGHTEEN MILLION DOLLAR RCRA PENALTY APPROPRIATE TO DETER LARGE CORPORATIONS FROM IMPROPERLY MANAGING HAZARDOUS WASTE Dec 22, 2010


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First Circuit Court of Appeals – This case involved the criminal conviction of a natural gas distribution company (Southern Union) for storing hazardous waste without a permit, which resulted in an $18 million fine. The conviction and fine were upheld, and the First Circuit specifically noted ” there was a need for a penalty substantial enough to attract the attention of large corporations, thereby achieving not only specific, but also general, deterrence.” Southern Union did not properly manage 140 pounds of mercury, which became the “play toy of young vandals who spread it about, including at their homes in a local apartment complex, after they spilled it around Southern Union’s largely abandoned and ill-guarded Tidewater site in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.”