Safety-Kleen Systems Inc. – Columbia Receives Final Hazardous Waste Permit to Continue Operating

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, SEPT. 12, 2019 – The Missouri Department of Natural Resources issued a final hazardous waste permit to Safety-Kleen Systems Inc., allowing the company to continue operating at its Columbia facility.

Safety-Kleen operates a commercial hazardous waste storage facility, located at 2400 Big Bear Court in Columbia, MO. This facility is part of a larger Safety-Kleen distribution/recycling network. Safety-Kleen’s Columbia facility is an accumulation point for spent solvents, paint wastes, lacquer thinner wastes and waste oil produced by Safety-Kleen customers, the majority of which are small-quantity hazardous waste generators. The facility also accumulates and stores other types of wastes on a 10-day transfer basis. The hazardous waste is stored until enough waste is collected to ship off-site to a Safety-Kleen recycling facility or contract reclaimer for processing. The reclaimed solvent is then returned to Safety-Kleen’s customers as usable product.  

Safety-Kleen has been operating at the site under a department-issued Missouri Hazardous Waste Management Facility Part I Permit and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-issued Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments Part II Permit. On March 26, 2017, Safety-Kleen submitted a permit application to the department and EPA to renew their existing hazardous waste permits. After a thorough technical review of the permit application and opportunity for public comment on the draft Part I Permit, the department issued a final Part I Permit. The final permit allows Safety-Kleen to continue managing and storing hazardous waste at the facility.

EPA decided not to issue a Part II Permit, since EPA has no site-specific conditions for the facility, beyond those contained in the final Part I Permit, and Missouri is fully authorized for all permitting activities at the facility. EPA intends to terminate the current Part II Permit upon issuance of the Part I Permit.

There were no comments made on the draft Part I Permit during the public comment period. Any parties adversely affected or aggrieved by the department’s decision to issue the final Part I Permit, or specific conditions of the final Part I Permit, may be entitled to pursue an appeal before the Administrative Hearing Commission by filing a written petition by Oct. 14, 2019, as more fully described in the final Part I Permit. 

The final Part I Permit is available on the department’s website at https://dnr.mo.gov/env/hwp/permits/notices.htm. The public can view the Part I Permit and supporting documents at the Columbia Public Library, 100 W. Broadway, Columbia; or the department’s Conference Center, 1738 E. Elm, Jefferson City. To review or obtain copies of the department’s files, please submit a sunshine request at https://dnr.mo.gov/sunshinerequests.htm.

For more information about the final Part I Permit, or to obtain a written copy of the final Part I Permit for review, please contact Nathan Kraus PE, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Waste Management Program, P.O. Box 176, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0176, by telephone at 573-751-3154 or 800-361-4827, or by email at nathan.kraus@dnr.mo.gov. Hearing- and speech-impaired individuals may reach Kraus through Relay Missouri at 800-735-2966.

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