Marin County will receive settlement funds from Rite-Aid Corporation, after a statewide civil lawsuit was settled Wednesday.
The lawsuit, claiming unlawful handling and disposing of various hazardous wastes and materials over a six-and-a-half-year period in California, was filed in San Joaquin County in September 2013 and led by the District Attorneys of Riverside, Los Angeles and San Joaquin counties.
It was alleged that 600 Rite Aid stores were improperly handling and disposing of pesticides, bleach, paint, aerosols, automotive products and solvents, pharmaceutical and bio hazardous wastes and other toxic, ignitable and corrosive materials.
From 2009 to present, prosecutors and investigators from the Marin County District Attorney’s Office, along with deputy district attorneys, investigators, and environmental regulators statewide, conducted waste inspections at Rite Aid facilities and at landfills throughout California. The inspections revealed Rite Aid was unlawfully sending hazardous waste to local landfills.
The Marin County District Attorney’s office reports that they will receive $15,000 in penalties and the Certified Unified Programs Agency (CUPA) will receive an additional $10,000. Funds will be reserved for use in future prosecution of environmental cases.
Marin is home to four Rite-Aid locations, Mill Valley, San Rafael, Corte Madera, and, Novato.
Under the final judgment, Rite Aid must pay $10.35 million in civil penalties and costs. An additional $1.9 million will fund supplemental environmental projects furthering consumer protection and environmental enforcement in California.
The retailer will be bound under the terms of a permanent injunction prohibiting similar future violations of law.
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