EPA Opens Clean Harbors Hazardous Waste Permit Comment Period

The environmental services company Clean Harbors is up for a new hazardous waste permit from the Environmental Protection Agency for its facility off Quincy Avenue in Braintree.

In a letter to interested parties sent last week, the EPA said it plans to issue the permit and has commenced a 45-day public comment period. Currently, Clean Harbors is operating under a license issued by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

The pending permit is not related to a previous corrective action taken by the EPA against Clean Harbors, Chief of Staff and Operations Peter Morin said. He said the town will formulate a response to the permit issuance, but does not expect any serious concerns.

Over the last several years, since the EPA found 30 violations in 2007 at Clean Harbor’s Braintree storage site, including inadequate containment, improper storage and failure to properly maintain hazardous-waste tanks, the town has not had any problems with the company, and in fact has had a "fostering of cooperation," Morin said.

In spring 2012, following months of pressure from local, state and federal officials, the federal government agreed to provide Braintree with $450,000 from a hazardous waste settlement with that originally targeted $1 million for tree plantings in Boston.

Braintree used the money to help pay for a nearly $1 million platform fire truck.

Written comments on the permit must be submitted to Sharon Leitch at:

EPA Region 1
5 Post Office Square
Suite 100
Boston, MA 02109-3912

Interested parties can also email leitch.sharon@epa.gov