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Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Environment - Hassan Barrel Company president indicted over toxic waste storage

The ILB has had several earlier entries about the Hassan Barrel Company of Fort Wayne. The first one, from Oct. 17, 2004, quoted a story in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette that began:

A NIPSCO worker trying to remove a gas meter for non-payment discovered a mountain of rusting industrial barrels filling the site of a defunct recycling firm.

Formed in 1959, Hassan Barrel Co. cleaned out used barrels so they could be reused. But the company apparently closed abruptly last summer, leaving workers locked out and the site covered with an estimated 10,000 barrels, with as many as 1,000 of them with industrial waste still inside.

Today an AP story, headlined "Company president indicted over toxic waste storage," begins:
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The former president of a barrel recycling plant where toxic waste was left behind when the company closed four years ago has been indicted on a federal charge.

Alan D. Hersh was arrested Monday in North Carolina following his indictment on one count of violating federal law by storing and disposing of hazardous waste without a permit, according to court documents.

The indictment also names Hassan Barrel Co., which opened in 1959 and recycled industrial barrels on its 7-acre site a few blocks from Adams Elementary School until it closed in the summer of 2003.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 4, 2007 08:26 AM
Posted to Environment