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The Home Depot will pay $27 million to settle claims that it improperly disposed of hazardous waste, including aerosol cans, batteries, electronics, paint and other items in California, The New York Times reports.
The California attorney general says inspections of the retailer’s trash over a two-year period led to the discovery of the improper disposal of hazardous waste, the article says.
According to the Times, Home Depot will pay $16 million in civil penalties, $9 million in environmental protection and compliance and about $2 million in cost recovery.
In addition to improper hazardous waste disposal, the settlement addresses allegations that the retailer disposed of customer information “without first rendering personal information unreadable,” Reuters reports.
“We’re pleased to have settled this and we remain committed to the responsible disposal of waste,” Home Depot says in a statement. “We’ll continue to work with California officials to that end.”
The Home Depot is headquartered in Atlanta and operates more than 2,200 stores in North America, including nearly 250 locations in California.
