9/30/2010
Riverside, California – Alameda County Superior Court Judge Steven Brick has issued a preliminary injunction, which prohibits Target Corporation in dumping their waste materials.
Target has more than 240 stores that are in operation in California, and all were ordered to stop dumping their hazardous wastes. These include paint, pesticides, oven cleaners, corrosive materials, aerosols, pool chemicals, and other toxic materials.
The lawsuit, which claimed that Target did not handle their waste materials properly for five years, was filed by Riverside County along with 19 other district attorneys in the state. City attorneys in Los Angeles and San Diego, and the state attorney general were also among those who filed the lawsuit.
The prosecutors have said that Target was not managing electronic waste properly, like that of batteries and many others. The company has also ignored the law in California that requires various companies to observe the proper storage and disposal of hazardous waste. They also said the wastes are crushed in compactors but they still end up in landfills, and when they do the toxic chemicals can leach to the soil, and make their way to groundwater.
If Target violates the court order for preliminary injunction issued by Judge Brick, then it would pave the way for the prosecutors to seek the necessary sanctions against the said company.
