A couple in St. Louis has pleaded guilty to improperly transporting nine million pounds of hazardous waste. Daryl Duncan, 67, and his wife Penny Duncan, 60, have both admitted to arranging the transportation and storage of hazardous waste from Mississippi to a warehouse in Franklin County without notifying the trucking company or its personnel that they were hauling hazardous waste.
The waste in question primarily consisted of spent bead blast waste, which is generated when paint is stripped from military vehicles like tanks and planes. It contains heavy metals like cadmium, chromium, and lead and was stored in a warehouse for over four years. The warehouse was not registered as or permitted to be used as a hazardous waste storage or recycling facility. The location of the warehouse is in a floodplain that is situated across the road from Little Berger Creek. The creek empties into the Missouri River less than a mile from the warehouse.
Mr. and Mrs. Duncan have been ordered to pay $1.5 million to the Environmental Protection Agency to cover the cost of properly handling and disposing of the hazardous waste. The couple also faces a sentence that can range from probation to six months in jail.
Couple admits illegally storing 9 million pounds of hazardous waste in Franklin County warehouse
