Target Ordered To Pay Riverside County For Hazardous Waste Disposal

Target Corp. was ordered today to pay $22.5 million in penalties to counties and cities throughout California — including Riverside County — for improperly disposing of hazardous products.

An Oakland judge directed the nation’s second-largest discount retailer to make the payment as part of a settlement reached with the California Attorney General’s Office, 20 county district attorneys and city attorneys in Los Angeles and San Diego.

Riverside County will receive nearly $700,000 from the settlement.

“This judgment holds Target, one of the largest chain stores in Riverside County, accountable for systematically ignoring laws just to cut costs,” said District Attorney Paul Zellerbach. “The terms of this injunction help ensure that the residents of Riverside County are protected from any further illegal dumping by Target of hazardous wastes into the environment.”

In June 2009, then-California Attorney General Jerry Brown filed an environmental lawsuit against the retailer alleging that, since 2001, more than 240 stores statewide had improperly disposed of fireworks, pesticides, herbicides, solvents, aerosols, batteries, degreasers, pool chemicals and stain removers.

Riverside County prosecutors alleged the some of the 14 Target stores in the county illegally dumped toxic materials in local landfills that were not designated to receive them, raising the risk of harmful seepage into the water table.

The state’s Health and Safety Code requires companies to safely store and dispose of hazardous wastes.

According to the lawsuit, Target failed to maintain a program to educate employees about the proper methods of discarding chemicals.

Under the settlement, the retailer has agreed to implement policies that ensure its employees, the public and environment are protected.