In a case without much national exposure, on 9/24/10 Alameda County Superior Court Judge Steven Brick issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting Target Corporation and its employees from illegally dumping hazardous waste, using unregistered haulers to transport hazardous waste, transporting hazardous waste without the required manifests and illegally managing and disposing of waste such as batteries and other electronic equipment. Prosecutors said tons of hazardous wastes and contaminated material were crushed along with discarded merchandise and garbage in Target's compactors and sent to area landfills.
Six months ago this suit was filed in California, but the same problem clearly exists in the other 1600+ Tarbutt stores in the other 49 states. I don't see any signs that the other Attorney Generals are moving on the problem but if California wins then perhaps it will wake up the rest of the country and some action will be taken. It really seems like a Federal violation that the EPA should be addressing, rather than 50 individual states.
"A lawsuit was filed against Target Corporation by the California Attorney General and 19 district attorneys. The suit alleges that Target's 200-plus California stores have improperly disposed of hazardous materials for the past eight years.
The extract above is from a longer article found at:
http://www.mv-voice.com/news/show_story.php?id=1627 and another article on the subject are found at: http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/inland_empire&id=7695280