California IN BRIEF : WESTMINSTER : EPA Urges $124,500 Fine in PCB Case

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a $124,500 fine against a Westminster-based commercial waste-storage company for allegedly mishandling large volumes of a hazardous compound at its storage plants in Wilmington and Rancho Cordova. North American Environmental Inc. was cited for improperly storing 250 to 300 drums of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) outdoors at its plant in Wilmington. The company also failed to notify the federal agency that PCB waste was being handled at the two facilities, EPA officials said. Manufacture of the toxic compound, used widely in electrical equipment and as insulation, was banned in 1979 because it breaks down very slowly in the environment and is believed to cause cancer in humans.