California Air Resources Board

SACRAMENTO - The California Air Resources Board fined Burrtec Waste Industries, Inc. $307,200 in November for emissions violations during 2005 and 2006.

An ARB investigation showed Burrtec Waste Industries, Inc. located in Fontana, Calif., failed to properly inspect their diesel vehicles. The company also failed to comply with the solid waste collection vehicle rule by neglecting to retrofit some of their diesel vehicles with the required emission-reduction devices.

"Trash haulers work hard to move waste out of our communities, and they burn a lot of diesel fuel close to where people live and work," said ARB Chairman Mary D. Nichols. "That's why California law requires that their engines be maintained and inspected to keep pollution as low as possible."

As part of the settlement, Burrtec Waste Industries is required to:

• Guarantee employees responsible for conducting the inspections attend a California community college training class on diesel emissions compliance testing and provide certificates of completion within one year;
• Provide documentation to ARB that the inspections are being carried out for the next four years;
• Ensure all heavy-duty diesel vehicles have their software updated with the latest low-NOx (oxides of nitrogen emissions) programming;
• Instruct vehicle operators to comply with the state's idling regulations;
• Retrofit the appropriate number of solid waste collection vehicles with the best available control technology;
• Comply with all requirements applicable to solid waste collection vehicles; and,
• Ensure all diesel truck engines are up to federal emissions standards for the vehicle model year and are properly labeled with an emissions control certification label.

Burrtec Waste Industries, paid $307,200 in penalties: $230,400 went to the California Air Pollution Control Fund for projects and research to improve California's air quality. The Peralta Community College District received $76,800 to fund emissions education classes at California community colleges throughout the state.

Diesel exhaust contains a variety of harmful gases and over 40 other known cancer-causing substances. In 1998, California identified diesel exhaust as a toxic air contaminant based on its potential to cause cancer, premature death and other health problems. New research links vehicle exhaust and lung cancer mortality in trucking industry workers exposed to diesel and other types of vehicle emissions with increasing years of work.