hazardous waste

The businesses were alleged to have violated a variety of state laws by improperly handling, storing and ultimately disposing of pesticides and hazardous waste in normal and ill-equipped trash bins and landfills, rather than at secure facilities.

The companies were accused of not just dumping hazardous waste into transfer stations, landfills and bins, but the district attorneys also alleged that employees often failed to separate or determine if waste was hazardous to begin with.

The defendants failed to maintain a program for lawful storage on-site, leading in some cases to hazardous waste leaking while in containers, according to court documents.

Veolia said Friday that the deal would allow it to expand in the growing U.S. hazardous waste sector.

Atlas, along with its father-and-son owners Gary and Matthew Weisenberg, were arraigned two years ago on numerous criminal charges in connection with illegal dumping and handling of hazardous waste from July 2020 and August 2022.