Walmart agrees to pay $7.5 million to settle California lawsuit over disposal of hazardous waste

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ The Associated Press

FILE - In this May 9, 2013, file photo, a worker pushes shopping carts in front of a Wal-Mart store in La Habra, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Jae C. Hong]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Walmart has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by California officials that alleged the retail giant illegally dumped batteries, aerosol cans of insect killer, toxic cleaning supplies, electronic waste, latex paints and other hazardous waste in municipal landfills throughout the state.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the settlement Tuesday, saying the company will also be required to hire an independent, third-party auditor to conduct three waste audits each year at its facilities throughout California during the next four years.

The audit results will have to be shared with the attorney general’s office, the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control, and the district attorneys of the 12 counties involved in the lawsuit.

As part of the settlement, Walmart agreed to continue operating and maintaining its hazardous waste programs and make modifications necessary to comply with changes in California’s Hazardous Waste Control Law.

“The fact that the settlement agreement requires Walmart to “maintain” our pre-existing waste compliance program is a testament to the strength of the compliance program we have built, and the settlement agreement itself recognizes that Walmart’s program is extremely effective at keeping allegedly hazardous waste out of public landfills,” Walmart said in a statement.

Walmart will have to pay $4.3 million in civil penalties and $3.2 million in reimbursements if the settlement is approved by an Alameda County Superior Court judge, according to the settlement.

“Walmart’s illegal disposal of hazardous and medical waste not only violated California laws, but, if left unchecked, posed a threat to human health and the environment,” Bonta said. “This settlement will ensure that Walmart takes the necessary steps to ensure that its hazardous waste is handled and disposed of as required by law.”

The California Department of Toxic Substances Control and the district attorneys of Alameda, Fresno, Monterey, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, Solano, Tulare, and Yolo counties joined the attorney general’s office in filing the 2021 lawsuit.

The state did 70 inspections from 2015 to 2021 of waste that Walmart stores sent to municipal landfills and found thousands of containers of toxic aerosols and liquid wastes, including spray paints, rust removers, bleach, pesticides, and medical waste, such as over-the-counter drugs.

The unlawful disposals are alleged to violate the Hazardous Waste Control Law, Medical Waste Management Act, and Unfair Competition Law, Bonta’s office said.

“The illegal disposal and mismanagement of hazardous waste by employees pose serious risks to the environment, public health, and worker safety,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “We will continue to work with our prosecution partners around the state to protect the public by holding businesses such as Walmart accountable for its violations of environmental law.”

The attorney general’s office settled a similar lawsuit in 2010 in which Walmart, operating more than 300 stores in California, paid $25 million and agreed to stop the dumping into local landfills that are not equipped to contain the hazardous products.

It paid $1.25 million to Missouri in 2012 to settle a similar lawsuit.

And in 2013, the company pleaded guilty to six federal misdemeanors of negligently discharging a pollutant into drains in 16 California counties, part of an $81 million deal that also included charges in Missouri.