The Washington Department of Ecology issued a 1.04 million dollar penalty against Crystal Clean, Inc. on September 2, 2026, citing widespread violations in the handling and tracking of hazardous industrial waste at the company's Lakewood operating facility.
Containers holding volatile solvents, discarded automotive fluids, and toxic cleaning compounds were stored in unpermitted configurations without secondary containment adequate to prevent leaks into local soil or storm drains.
State inspectors found more than 120 separate documents that contained altered data, forged routing endorsements, or misleading chemical descriptions.
When unpermitted industrial solvents enter standard municipal drainage networks, toxic vapors can sicken utility crews, corrode infrastructure, and kill beneficial bacterial colonies in treatment digesters, causing secondary pollution bypasses into Puget Sound.
However, state regulators hold broad statutory authority under chapter 70A.300 RCW to penalize paper-trail tampering regardless of whether an active chemical spill occurred.
The Washington Department of Ecology has issued $1.04 million in penalties against Crystal Clean, Inc. for altering customer manifests and diverting hazardous waste to unpermitted facilities.