An electroplating company was visited by inspector to inspect the facility. The investigation took place due to heavy reports of health and safety issues due to poor waste management. The plant consisted of a general work area that included two bath tanks that contained cyanide solution on one side and an acid bath on the other. In the four corners of the work area there were several waste drums spread out through the area. The rest of the work area consisted of rinse, plating, etching tanks and a general office. After multiple employee reports, the inspector obtained a search warrant to inspect the facility to see the building waste management processes. The search results from the inspector came up with two major issues that the company was doing, and the owner was denying.

First, the several waste drums contained electroplating chemicals that could not be used any more, this is due to them being used multiple times already and could not be used any more for future use. The owner stated that the solutions were still good and will be used later for plating processes. Further investigations showed that they chemical were corroding the metal containers and releasing toxic chemicals in the air while the employees were working. Secondly, there were green fumes that were inside the building and deadly cyanide gases that would release due to mixing of cyanide and acid bath solutions. The plant solutions were causing the green fumes inside the building and causing respiratory problems when inhaled during hours of operation. The deadly cyanide gas that was created when the acid bath and cyanide solution sometimes mixed with each other because one steel plate separated the two solutions. The inspector contacted Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the building was shut down. The six-story building contained hundreds of containers with unused plating solution. The federal government call the work place a hazardous waste clean-up site and begun removing the waste.

The internet research, I located an incident in California that involved illegal plating operation and illegal dumping of hazardous material. Ramon Montes operated a plating facility in Hillmar, California. Ramon stopped paying rent in the Hillmar location and was moving to a new location in Merced, California. During the movement from the old location to the new, a 55-gallon drum of hydrochloric acid spilled into a storm drain. Hydrochloric acid is corrosive to the skin and can cause skin irritations. After Ramon Montes shut down his old building, he sold the rest of his plating chemicals to Bonnie Cardenas. Cardenas pleaded no contest to failure to report the release of hydrochloric acid. Montes pleaded no contest to felony charge of unlawfully dumping hazardous waste. The terms of Cardenas plea deal consist of 50 hours of community service, three years of probation, fine and fees. The terms of Montes plea consisted of 120 days in jail, five years of probation, fines and fees also. The Department of Toxic Substances Controls office of Criminal Investigation worked with multiple agencies such as the California Highway Patrol, Merced County Environmental Health Department, then filed criminal charges with Merced County District Attorney’s office. The Merced County District Attorney’s office filed criminal complaints against Ramon Montes and Bonnie Carenas for violated California Hazardous Waste Control Law.

Work cited: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2014/08/20/3805025/merced-area-plating-shop-operators.html http://library.books24x7.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/assetviewer.aspx?bookid=49314&chunkid=280145083&rowid=153¬eMenuToggle=0&leftMenuState=1