Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Media Contact: Barbara Skoglund, 651-296-5965 Technical Contact: Joshua Burman, 507-389-5286 Saint Paul, Minn. -- OSI Environmental Inc. of Milwaukee, Wis. has agreed to modify its procedures, retrain staff, and pay a $16,000 civil penalty to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) as a result of alleged hazardous waste violations at their Rosemount, Minn. facility. OSI Environmental collects used oil from auto repair shops, quick-change oil centers and other sites. They consolidate the oil in storage tanks and then sell it, primarily for use as a fuel. In June 2004, the MPCA notified the company that they had improperly accepted, mixed and transported hazardous mineral spirits from a business in Lindstrom in 2003. In March 2005, the MPCA also issued a warning to OSI Environmental asserting that they accepted, mixed, transported and knowingly sold PCB-contaminated used oil. A total of 35,559 gallons of contaminated oil were improperly sold after the company learned it contained PCBs. The contaminated oil originated from an oil change store in Brooklyn Park in 2004. An agreement between OSI Environmental and the MPCA resolves these 2003 and 2004 problems. The company has disposed of all hazardous waste PCB-contaminated oil at its Rosemount facility and cleaned the tanks systems and piping that contained the contaminated oil. It has put in place procedures to ensure the immediate proper management and disposal of hazardous waste. Its used oil hauler acceptance procedures have also been amended. Stipulation Agreements such as this are one of the tools used by the MPCA to achieve compliance with environmental laws. When calculating penalties, the MPCA takes into account how seriously the violation affected the environment, whether it is a first time or repeat violation and how promptly the violation was reported to appropriate authorities. It also attempts to recover the calculated economic benefit gained by failure to comply with environmental laws in a timely manner. For a comprehensive list of enforcement actions by the MPCA, go to the agency Web site at/newscenter/enforcement.html.