Connecticut’s environmental cops hit retail pharmacy chain CVS with an $800,000 penalty for failing to properly handle hazardous waste and recyclables at seven stores, authorities say.
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) announced Monday its comprehensive settlement with CVS. The retailer also agreed to improve in its environmental practices.
DEEP said the lapses were uncovered during inspections of CVS stores in Clinton, Coventry, Guilford, Madison, Mansfield, Southbury and Vernon.
“CVS failed to ensure the proper handling and disposal of waste products at their stores throughout Connecticut. The mismanagement of these hazardous materials indicated a systemic statewide compliance problem for CVS and presented an unacceptable threat to human health and the environment,” DEEP Commissioner Daniel C. Esty said in a statement.
In an email statement Monday, CVS acknowledged the settlement, in which it said it did not admit to any wrongdoing.
“As a pharmacy health care company that is helping people on their path to better health, we understand the need for a healthy environment,” the statement said. “CVS is currently meeting the requirements of the state’s environmental regulations and we are committed to enhancing our procedures to ensure continued compliance.”
The settlement includes eight consent orders – one tied to CVS’s corporate headquarters and seven dealing with the individual stores that were inspected. The consent orders for the individual stores will require CVS to demonstrate correction of all of the outstanding violations cited in each consent order.
Under the terms of the corporate consent order, CVS has agreed to:
• Pay a civil penalty of $300,000
• Pay an additional penalty of $500,000 as a supplemental environmental project with the money to be used on projects and activities that improve materials management practices in Connecticut
• Retain qualified environmental management professionals to prepare the documents and oversee the actions required under the consent order
• Complete closure of eleven identified former hazardous waste (spent photographic processing solutions) container storage areas. These areas are located at current or former CVS stores in Middletown, Norwich, Milford, Guilford, Seymour, Mansfield, Coventry, Prospect, Brookfield and Burlington
• Implement best management practices for non-dispensable pharmaceuticals and non-saleable consumer products
• Develop and implement a state-wide waste management and recycling program, within a corporate environmental management system designed to ensure that CVS stores in Connecticut maintain compliance with state hazardous waste management regulations and recycling laws
• Have a consultant perform unannounced compliance audits at 20 CVS stores in Connecticut
