AutoZone Dumps Waste Oils Into Storm Drains

[TC]

Next time you're considering where to make your auto parts purchases, remember this...

Per a $12M lawsuit by the California Attorney General, AutoZone has been systematically dumping into storm drains at least some of the waste fluids brought in by customers. From a newspaper article:

"The state attorney general and three county prosecutors sued the auto-parts chain AutoZone on Wednesday, accusing it of illegally dumping hazardous waste at many of the company's 410 California stores."

"Hazardous materials were illegally dumped in storm drains and used oil and filters were improperly stored or removed, according to the $12 million lawsuit filed by the Attorney General's Office and prosecutors in Monterey, San Bernardino and San Joaquin counties."

"The lawsuit does not specify the number of alleged violations, but Attorney General Bill Lockyer said in a statement that prosecutors believe almost all of the chain's California outlets were involved in the improper storage and disposal."

"Those findings led the prosecutors to believe most of the company's 410 California stores have violated waste laws, according to Lockyer's office. The company has not corrected any of the violations, the lawsuit said."

Sounds like these a-holes took a cue from the demons at Royal Carribean Cruises, Carnival Cruises, and Norwegian Cruise Lines, who forked out $45M in fines a few years back for dumping oils, drycleaning fluids, and photo developing solutions at sea through secretly-installed piping designed to fool Coast Guard inspectors.

All my future purchases will now be at either Kragen or Pep Boys.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/11960818.htm

 

[wizzells]

Note to self...dont shop there, EVER!

 

[Pablo]

Previously discussed

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Geez Pablo, post it in a more popular section next time.

Oh yea, Autozone Sux!

 

[The Critic]

quote:

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Originally posted by wizzells:
Note to self...dont shop there, EVER!

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Then how are you going to get your GC?

Michael

 

[obbop]

Amateurs!!!!!!

The "Mob" knows how to do things right..... take the collected wastes.... oils, chemicals, bio-hazards, whatever, place in a tanker truck designed with outlets amidships pointed down, then wait for a heavy rain at night. Go for a drive, head for a deserted road, then open the spouts!!!!!

The "Mob" made millions collecting and disposing wates in this manner.

Don't tell Guido the Neck I mentioned this, though.

 

[Bryanccfshr]

Cool, Boycot Autozone... More for me to choose from on the clearance racks.

Because and "elected" AG files a lawsuit we should awsume the allegations are true? Especially given the state this could be ladder wrung leaping at its finest.

 

[Gary Allan]

Given that this is California ..it could merely mean that they didn't dot the proper "i's" and cross the right "t's". It was probably "unlawfully" disposed of as opposed to illegally disposed of. The main difference, IMHO, is one where the process would otherwise be legal except that certain restrictions or regulations were not adhered to. Sorta like putting gasoline in a glass container at a gas pump. It's legal to put gas in a container ..and transport it ..but it is unlawful to do it in a glass container. This has to be something along this line.

At my old job we were one of the only Hazardous material sites in Berks county. We had all kinds of permits and this and that. Our plant in Reading ...didn't. So when we had to ship waste for disposal ..it could not originate (the manifest) from Reading. So the truck had to pick up the waste in Reading ...transfer it to Gibraltar (physically drive about 8 miles) ..have someone sign the received transfer document ..sign the shipping bill of lading ..and off he went. There was nothing else done. Essentially it was a proper paper trail and physical compliance with the regulations ..yet it was mostly a waste of time (a little). That is, shipping directly from the Reading plant was not in compliance with our permits ...yet that's essentially what we did.

..and if we didn't ..there would be a fine during an audit of our records.

quote:

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"Hazardous materials were illegally dumped in storm drains and used oil and filters were improperly stored or removed, according to the $12 million lawsuit filed by the Attorney General's Office and prosecutors in Monterey, San Bernardino and San Joaquin counties."

---

Note the lack of numeration. This could have been one incident on record.

quote:

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The lawsuit does not specify the number of alleged violations, but Attorney General Bill Lockyer said in a statement that prosecutors believe almost all of the chain's California outlets were involved in the improper storage and disposal."

---

This kinda gives you a clue that this is an ad campain to set the tone for a leveraged extortion from AZ. I'm uncertain how it works in CA ..but in PA if you don't feel that the DEP is doing a good job of enforcing polution regulations ..you can sue the company via the DEP. This naturally spawned a group of lawyers dedicated to targetting industries that may not be major polutors ..but had minor violations (termed "excursions") on their record. They are allowed to recover the costs of the legal expenses in the action. Hence you will see, from time to time, a "consent decree" which is basically "hush money" to get the suit settled out of court. It is levied by the authority (in our case the DEP) and paid to the suing agent (the legal fees). This could be one such case. AZ may have had reportable spills at their stores ...and indeed reported them. They got negotiated fines for the excursion ..and went about their business. Then some legal eagle saw the publically disclosed spill announcement ...added up a few of them ..filed suit. Q.E.D. lunch money for the courthouse runs for the next year or two.

Make no mistake about it. AZ will not be paying this fine. They will be merely collecting it. The fine will be paid by the consumer ..their only source of revenue.

[ July 05, 2005, 11:17 AM: Message edited by: Gary Allan ]

 

[Blue99]

From the Lube Report Article

...(Autozone)spokesman Ray Pohlman told Lube Report. “We feel that the allegations made by the attorney general are a gross misrepresentation of the facts, and we look forward to the opportunity to defend our position in court.”

I'd like to see a list of the "alleged" violations. My impression is that it's a bunch of Mickey Mouse type charges.

 

[TC]

"Because an 'elected' AG files a lawsuit we should awsume the allegations are true?"

The actual lawsuit states that environmental health inspectors and fire department inspectors (not politicians) in THREE DIFFERENT COUNTIES repeatedly documented these infractions at the stores inspected. No political agendas, no conspiracies, no "Who killed JFK" mysteries or "Let's frame OJ" theories. At first I too wondered if this was an overzealous case of prosecuting for a few leaky, dripping oil dumping tanks in their stores. But a $12M lawsuit doesn't even begin to explain that -- I suspect there was some substantial storm drain dumping goin' on, something that would justify the $12M figure to a judge and jury. Although never mentioned anywhere, I'd venture there was an AutoZone manager or employee who originally blew the whistle, dismayed at what they saw. Someone with insider knowledge of the surreptitious storm drain dumping would likely have to had come forward, unless it was witnessed by chance. If major cruise lines would go to the trouble of installing hidden piping systems so they can illegally dump chemicals as sea, I don't know why it'd be impossible to believe that AutoZone would dump oil into drains, as alleged by several county agencies in various regions of the state.
***************************************

"The "Mob" knows how to do things right....head for a deserted road, then open the spouts!!!!!"

Yeah, you got it -- I'd bet that is (or at least was) common. Or one can use the idiotic Dave Matthews Band method. Last year, one of their tour buses dumped 100 gallons of "brownwater" bathroom waste while traveling over a Chicago bridge. Only one problem (other than the fact it's illegal): The waste splashed through a steel grating, raining onto 109 guests on a tour boat below. The incident was caught on videotape. Bad move, and thoroughly elligle for "Idiot of the Year" award!

[ July 05, 2005, 06:32 PM: Message edited by: TC ]

 

[Gary Allan]

quote:

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The actual lawsuit states that environmental health inspectors and fire department inspectors (not politicians) in THREE DIFFERENT COUNTIES repeatedly documented these infractions at the stores inspected.

---

Do you think that these people don't have to justify their jobs by finding sacrificial lambs? My wife's job gets inspected bi-annually by the JCHA, DPW, and a number of other agencies. They always find something ..even if they give you a great rhetorical review. If they don't find anything, they aren't doing their job.

I was in an infamous accident in Berks county. I was transporting nuke medicine. The local fire company saw the nuke labels on the packages ...and closed the highway for 8 hours. The Penna DOT, the NRC, the EPA, and the DER were out in full force. It made every news show except Phila. There was no loss of load and my logs were all up to date ..yet they put me through the ringer. 18 years later I'm in a Hazmat/confined space training room and I mention this to the instructor. He pulls out a slide cassette and shows images of my car. I told him that he could say that he met the clown that caused all the ruckus.

Trust me. If that's true that this has been an ongoing situation of environmental deliquency ..there would have been progressive steps involved. It's not at all likely that violations were routinely noted ..and ignored. I would find this even less likely in California.

 

[TC]

"I was in an infamous accident in Berks county...It made every news show except Phila...they put me through the ringer."

Yes, but did they sue you for $12 million?

"They always find something ..even if they give you a great rhetorical review. If they don't find anything, they aren't doing their job."

Yes, they often do. I'm a private Environmental, Health & Safety (OSHA) Consultant by trade, and they'll typically nick businesses for a few hundred dollars here and there, and over a grand for more significant violations. But not $12M.

AutoZone really screwed up big time to warrant this amount -- these numbers aren't pulled out of thin air, but derived with justifying the case before a judge and jury taken into account. No amount of "Yeah, but there's a politician involved" conspiracy theories will get around this fact.

 

[Gary Allan]

quote:

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AutoZone really screwed up big time to warrant this amount -- these numbers aren't pulled out of thin air,

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I agree. To accrude this magnetude of a figure ($12M) ..this would have to have been an ongoing and perpetual situation. Makes you wonder what the enforcement arms and legs of the various agencies were doing all this time. It appears ..nothing.

I mean, what would OSHA do with a scoff law employer, especially one that was well funded? Wait for 24 deaths 7500 injuries and 18 dismemberments?? Not likely.

It will be interesting to see what the real deal is on this.

 

[XS650]

quote:

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Originally posted by Gary Allan:

quote:

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AutoZone really screwed up big time to warrant this amount -- these numbers aren't pulled out of thin air,

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I agree. To accrude this magnetude of a figure ($12M) ..this would have to have been an ongoing and perpetual situation. Makes you wonder what the enforcement arms and legs of the various agencies were doing all this time. It appears ..nothing.

---

"Lockyer’s office said AutoZone was previously informed of its violations and failed to bring an end to them. The company insisted the charges are unjustified."

 

[Tosh]

Yeah, I can see Kragen managers gettting together to frame AZ by pouring a little used oil down 50 of their storm drains at night and then calling the health department... Adds up to me. Another 'OJ was framed' story.

 

[Pablo]

It is a bit ironic that due process applies to all known suspects - even the most heinous child molesters.......EXCEPT evil corporations suspected of pollution.

 

[omaha]