Wal-Mart to pay $81.6 million in environmental penalties

Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has pleaded guilty to six counts of violating the Clean Water Act (CWA) and an additional count of violating the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) at its stores across the United States and has agreed to pay approximately $81.6 million in penalties to the federal government. The guilty pleas were the outcome of three cases brought by the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) and a related civil case brought by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in which the federal government charged the company with failing to have a program in place to train employees in the proper management of hazardous wastes. As a result of this failure, the government charged, employees at Wal-Mart stores improperly disposed of hazardous wastes in municipal trash bins or local sewer systems, or they returned the materials to any of six Wal-Mart product return centers without the proper safety documentation.