Chemical Consultants, Inc. was a company that mixes and sells chemical products for use in various industries and was a large quantity generator of hazardous waste. Chemical Consultants, Inc. is alleged to have dumped, without a permit, hazardous waste on to a gravel-covered portion of property leased to his business in 2003 and 2005.
He is also alleged to have dumped chemical wastes into the sanitary sewer in 2004 and 2005 which caused a total of 22 pass-through events at the South Davis Sewer District in Davis County, Utah.
It is alleged that he disposed of waste from sulfuric acids, hydrofluoric and hydrochloric acids that he used to produce products his company sold.
Baggett was arrested on the above charges on September 20, 2007, by federal EPA-CID special agents and the Utah Attorney General’s Office agents.
He was subsequently released from federal custody with conditions pending his trial.
On April 22, 2008, a federal arrest warrant was issued for Baggett for violating the conditions of his release pending his trial.
His trial was scheduled to begin on June 2, 2008. Baggett was taken into Federal custody on March 13, 2009 in Florida.
On April 16 2009, Baggett was charged by a federal Grand Jury in Miami with assaulting law enforcement officers and illegally possessing eight firearms while he was a fugitive from the District of Utah on an environmental crimes prosecution.
Like I said he ran a truck wash and the suds ran on the ground and down the sewer ...
Rainforest = Swamp
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Proper disposal methods are elaborate and consequently expensive; I would guess the EPA misses a lot of cases like this. The USGS released this memo along with the MSDS:
[DISPOSAL:
Spilled or used hydrochloric acid is considered a hazardous waste
and must be handled accordingly. It must be properly labeled and
disposed of by a hazardous waste contractor. Storage should be in
an assigned area that is away from general worker population, and
well-marked, well ventilated and not subject to heat cycles. Records
must be maintained on the amounts of waste hydrochloric acid, the
storage time, and the contractor involved in hazardous waste recycling.
Used hydrochloric acid is considered a hazardous waste because of its
corrosive properties. By diluting hydrochloric acid to 5 percent
volume to volume or less, and neutralizing it with NAHCO3 to a neutral
pH, the solution is no longer corrosive and can, in some jurisdictions,
be disposed of down the drain. Before this is practiced as a means of
disposal, permission must be obtained from the local waste water treat-
ment facility and be in compliance with local and State environmental
regulations.
William B. Mann IV
Assistant Chief Hydrologist
for Operations]
But hydrofluoric acid is the nastiest stuff that you can imagine. It can etch glass. If you get HF on your skin, your flesh will catalyze, and the acid will not stop until it hits calcium (your bones).
I'm no fan of the EPA, but dumping HF really is a serious crime
"Fluoride ions penetrate and form insoluble salts with calcium and magnesium. Soluble salts also are formed with other cations but dissociate rapidly. Consequently, fluoride ions release, and further tissue destruction occurs."
Quoted from eMedicine.