Par Hawaii fined nearly $170K for hazardous waste violations

The Hawaii Department of Health has fined Par Hawaii $169,500 for violating the state’s hazardous waste management laws.

In a notice of violation and order, DOH said Par Hawaii committed three violations: the illegal disposal of hazardous waste at a facility not permitted to dispose of it; failure to make a hazardous waste determination; and failure to use a uniform hazardous waste manifest for transportation.

DOH said Par shipped six drums of waste to a non-hazardous waste landfill in Utah labeled as non-hazardous when they were, indeed, hazardous.

The drums were labeled as “Non-Department of Transportation (DOT)-Regulated (Neutralized Acid Solid)” and “Non-DOT Regulated (Acid Solid Residue).”

DOH was alerted to the violations by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, which tested the waste and found it to be hazardous due to its chromium content.

The notice alleges that Par failed to make a proper hazardous waste determination because it shipped the waste before receiving test results showing it was hazardous.

“The regulations require hazardous waste to be shipped using a uniform hazardous waste manifest to facilities permitted to properly treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste,” said DOH in a news release. “The NOVO alleges that Par failed to ship the waste using the correct manifest and failed to properly dispose of the waste at a permitted hazardous waste facility.”

In addition to the penalty, DOH has ordered Par to take corrective actions, including training its employees properly. Par has 20 days to respond.

In a statement, Par Hawaii President Eric Wright said that since discovering an October 2023 shipment of waste to the mainland for disposal was improperly categorized as non-hazardous, the company has implemented new procedures to prevent a recurrence.

“Protecting and preserving the environment is important to us and we recognize compliance with all county, state and federal environmental laws is critical to our operations,” said Wright in the statement. “We conducted a thorough investigation to understand what occurred and to ensure this does not happen again.”

“As we reported back to the Department of Health in mid-February 2025,” he said, “we have since strengthened communications between departments and retrained our employees to properly identify and control hazardous waste prior to shipment for disposal. We apologize for this incident and will continue to work closely with the Department of Health to make sure we follow through on appropriate steps to ensure the health and safety of our employees and those in our community.”