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MassDEP Fines Cape Cod Commercial Linen for Delayed Notification of Spill

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has fined Cape Cod Commercial Linen Service Inc. $1,150 for failing to provide notification of a hazardous material spill in Hyannis, Mass., within a two-hour timeframe.
A Cape Cod Commercial Linen Service employee emptied approximately two gallons of the laundry bleaching agent sodium hypochlorite from a drum into a catch basin, when the chemical combined with other materials in the basin to create fumes, according to MassDEP. A passerby noticed the chemical reaction and contacted the Hyannis Fire Department, which blocked access to the site and contacted MassDEP.
Cape Cod Commercial Linen Service hired an environmental firm to remediate the spill that afternoon. State law requires that MassDEP be notified within two hours after a company has knowledge of the release of hazardous material, and in this case, that contact wasn’t made, MassDEP says.
“Companies that utilize hazardous chemicals as part of their work process must be vigilant when it comes to every aspect of the material handling,” says David Johnston, acting director of MassDEP’s Southeast regional office in Lakeville, Mass. “Disposal of such waste is very important, and mismanagement can cause serious health or environmental impacts.”
 

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