Proposed waste site causing concern

Diana Sahagun

Monday, March 6, 2000 | 11:56 a.m.

The Holiday Inn motto proclaims there is always something new.

For the North Las Vegas hotel, off Craig Road, that something new could be a neighbor that stores hazardous materials.

Safety-Kleen Corp. is looking to move from Las Vegas Boulevard and Owens Avenue, where it has been since 1977. The North Las Vegas Planning Commission will consider Wednesday granting the company a permit for a 9,000-square-foot office-warehouse on 2.52 acres on Donovan Way, north of Craig Road and right next to the Holiday Inn Express.

The company is also proposing three storage tanks about 20 feet high behind the building.

Safety-Kleen is a national company that recycles hazardous waste such as automotive and industrial fluid including oil, antifreeze and parts-cleaning solvents. The local company stores hazardous materials before shipping them to be recycled out of state.

In varying amounts, the local company also stores mixed liquid waste such as arsenic, barium, lindane, mercury and chloroform. The materials are stored in double-walled drums for 10 days, then sent out of state to be recycled.

A majority of the Las Vegas Valley clientele are small businesses, such as auto-repair shops and dry cleaners.

Holiday Inn Manager Jeff Hale said last week he was unaware of the plan. Corporate officials did not return calls for comment.

Tom Mullicin, Safety-Kleen's local spokesman, said the company is moving because it has outgrown its current facility.

Branch Manager David Huntsman said the current facility is a 5,000-square-foot warehouse on a quarter-acre lot.

"We hold ourselves to the highest standards that can be held in terms of environmental protection," Mullicin said. "These types of byproducts would be no more hazardous than someone putting gas in their car.

"It would be inaccurate to say there are no risks associated with (storing and handling) the byproducts, but it would also be inappropriate to say they are any higher risks than being next to a convenience store."

North Las Vegas Deputy Fire Chief Jim Stubler said any hazardous material that gets out of a container can harm you.

But he added that as long as the building is designed with the proper safety precautions, it would be an improvement over the current location.

The liquid waste, if it were spilled, is easily recoverable, Stubler said.

"Safety-Kleen is a responsible, corporate leader," Stubler said. "'As far as resident concerns with daily contact, like materials running out the sewers, it isn't going to happen."

If the permit is granted, the company will still have to submit plans to be approved. The company hopes to occupy the land by spring 2001.

Although Safety-Kleen has had no violations recently, it agreed in 1991 to pay a $13,200 fine to settle a state complaint that it violated Nevada's hazardous waste disposal law.

Investigators discovered it had stored 15 shipments at its business for more than 10 days without a permit. As part of the agreement, the company did not admit any wrongdoing.

In 1992 Safety-Kleen agreed to pay a $15,000 fine to settle similar violations. The settlement was made with no admission of wrongdoing.

In 1987 a Safety-Kleen truck was detained in North Las Vegas after officers noticed improper markings. An investigation of a strong odor from the truck revealed several leaking containers.

The company also had a well-publicized bout with the city in 1990 when it asked the state to waive its one-mile limit to develop a $20 million recycling center near Cheyenne Avenue and Interstate 15.

The site was within one mile of two schools, a church, homes and a water well.

State and county officials had expressed concern to Safety-Kleen's managers over the plant's potential effects on air quality and the quantity of hazardous waste that would be shipped from Western states.

Safety-Kleen withdrew its application in 1991.