A Niagara Falls business pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to storing and dumping hazardous waste — in the form of expired hand sanitizer — without a permit, U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced.
JEMF Buffalo Industrial, LLC, faces a maximum sentence of $50,000 per day of violation for 326 pallets of hand sanitizer that were shipped to its property at 3800 Highland Avenue between Jan. 13 and May 18, 2022.
In Dec. 2023, EPA officials executed a search warrant at the property, which found the presence of expired hand sanitizer dumped in a pile approximately 73 feet long by 24 feet wide by 5 feet high. Samples of the sanitizer confirmed to be ignitable, which deems it to be a hazardous waste. According to DiGiacomo, JEMF was aware that the sanitizer was hazardous at the time.
Regional Logistics Group LLC, a warehousing business, was a tenant of the property at the time. JEMF transported the sanitizer from a commercial property in Pennsylvania, which it was considering purchasing in January 2022. Regional Logistics agreed to accept and handle the pallets. According to DiGiacomo, JEMF learned some of the sanitizer was leaking and had spilled to the ground in May 2023.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 15, 2027.
