Thursday, April 2, 1998 | 9:43 a.m.
NORTH LAS VEGAS -- After nearly two hours of pleading for the City Council to give them a second chance and pledging that medical waste will never again be buried on their property, time ran out for US EnviroMedical Corp.
The City Council revoked the company's business license Wednesday night, following testimony by an eyewitness who said he saw medical waste being buried in US EnviroMedical (US Med's) yard at 3890 Walnut St.
Mark Zalaoras, chief deputy city attorney, presented the council with 12 exhibits of evidence detailing what he said clearly showed that US Med violated the conditions of its business license.
In its original application for a business license, Zalaoras said US Med officials stated that the company would not store medical waste on its property and that refuge would be recycled on the same day it was picked up.
Zalaoras presented police photographs of pallets loaded with plastic containers in US Med's yard that were full of hospital sharps including glassware, plasticware and syringes.
Keith Jay, the state certified environmental manager who supervised the excavation of US Med's 15,625-foot yard last month, testified at the "show cause" hearing before the council that soiled hospital gowns, empty blood bags, syringes and IV tubing were also dug up.
Jay said the hole, excavated by Environmental Technologies of Nevada Inc., measured 62 feet long and ranged from 12 to 35 feet wide and 12 to 23 feet deep in some areas.
Environmental Technologies is a subsidiary of Silver State Disposal Service, a company that is a competitor with US Med for the lucrative medical waste business. The two companies are presently suing and counter suing each other over allegedly attempting to steal each other's customers.
An estimated 500 tons of dirt containing illegally buried medical waste was removed and trucked to the Apex landfill, 19 miles north of Las Vegas.
"This was not the first time US Med has dumped waste," Zalaoras said. "On Sept. 24, 1997, 100 cubic yards of trash was dumped on an adjacent property. All items (presented to the council) are a matter of public record."
Zalaoras said Ben Bean, vice president and general manager of US Med, dumped used intravenous bags, syringes and respiratory tubes on the vacant lot.
Former employee Brian Olinger said he saw another employee bury medical waste in US Med's yard in November 1997. He said the company engineer said Dennis Danzik, the former chief executive officer at US Med, told them to bury it.
"I'm the most pro-business and pro-growth mayor...," Mayor Michael Montandon said. "But US Med has shown very little respect to us as a city. I feel I and my colleagues up here have been shown very little respect."
"I'm totally irritated," an angry Councilman William Robinson said. "North Las Vegas is not a dumping ground for US Med or anyone else."
Even Michael Simmons, the interim CEO, couldn't sway the council to believe that US Med had cleaned up its act. New management recently installed outside surveillance cameras and instituted weekly tabulations of medical waste arriving and leaving the premises. But none of that impressed the council.
"I smile at the idea that you are going to put surveillance cameras in," Councilwoman Stephanie Smith said. "It's no mystery who buried the waste."
US Med's attorney, Steven Barringer, was visibly shaken and stunned following the council's decision to revoke the company's business license. He said the company would have to regroup and decide what it wants to do.
Barringer said US Med wants to stay in Nevada, even though it can no longer operate at its present location.
One option would be to obtain a court order overturning the council's decision. Barringer wouldn't say whether US Med planned to attempt that legal maneuver.
"I'm satisfied that the council took the appropriate action, considering the amount of evidence we had," Zalaoras said. "I've been an attorney in North Las Vegas for 12 1/2 years, and I believe we only revoked three (business) licenses."
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