[ADEQ Media] Sure-Way Systems, Inc. of Phoenix to Pay $39, 000 Penalty to Resolve Medical Waste Transport and Registration Violations

Tue Oct 27 08:54:18 MST 2009

PHOENIX (Oct. 27, 2009) - The Arizona Department of Environmental
Quality and Arizona Attorney General's Office announced today that a
Montana-based biohazardous medical waste business with an office in
Phoenix has agreed to pay a $39,000 penalty under a consent judgment for
transport and registration violations of state statutes during 2007 and
2008.

Sure-Way Systems, Inc. received a Notice of Violation from ADEQ's Solid
Waste Inspections and Compliance Unit in November 2007 after an
investigation at a Tucson auto-repair shop found an inoperable Sure-Way
vehicle with its cargo door open and waste medical sharps inside.
Biohazardous medical waste was stored inside the vehicle for at least a
month without refrigeration.

An ADEQ inspection at Milum Textile Service in Phoenix in February 2008,
where Sure-Way was also operating and storing records, found that
Sure-Way transported 20 loads of biohazardous medical waste from April
29, 2007 through June 20, 2007 before submitting its registration to
ADEQ.

In addition, 10 cases were documented in which Sure-Way stored medical
waste more than 24 hours without refrigeration before delivering the
waste to a medical facility.

"Their lax handling of potentially dangerous biohazardous medical waste
put people at risk but the company has stepped up and improved the way
it does business," ADEQ Director Benjamin H. Grumbles said.

"Any company handling medical waste needs to rigorously comply with
state regulations. These violations could easily have had serious
consequences," Attorney General Terry Goddard said.

The consent judgment is subject to court approval.

-30-

"News media interested in additional information on this or any other
topic concerning the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality should
contact the Office of Communications at (602) 771-2215 or via email at
ms15@azdeq.gov."

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