The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office have announced that Star Valley Veterinary Clinic in Gila County has agreed to a $65,000 settlement for biohazardous waste violations.
The clinic will pay a $5,000 penalty and conduct a $60,000 Supplemental Environmental Project. Veterinarian services will be used to treat animals for the Central Arizona Humane Society. In addition, information will be provided about the proper management and disposal of biohazardous medical waste in the animal care industry.
An inspection by ADEQ’s Solid Waste Inspection and Compliance Unit in 2009 determined that the clinic disposed of untreated biohazardous medical waste syringes contaminated with blood in regular solid waste containers that were dumped in the Gila County landfill between 1999 and 2009.
ADEQ Director Henry Darwin says these are serious violations, but this is also a creative settlement that will allow many abandoned pets and other animals to receive medical treatment while at the same time educating animal owners about the proper disposal of this medical waste.
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