A Franklin County judge has ordered Closed Loop Refining & Recovery and Closed Loop Glass Solutions, two defunct electronics-recycling companies, to pay $3 million in civil penalties for abandoning large amounts of hazardous waste in Columbus. The Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced the court’s final judgment, which fully adopted a magistrate’s earlier decision against the companies.
“These companies dumped a toxic mountain of waste and vanished, but the consequences caught up with them,” said Yost. “This is the final chapter in one of the largest hazardous waste cases our office has ever taken on.”
Closed Loop was supposed to recycle cathode-ray tube (CRT) glass, which contains dangerous levels of lead. Instead, they illegally accumulated 150 million pounds of CRT glass and other waste in two warehouses located on Watkins Road and Fairwood Avenue in Columbus.
The warehouses were owned by Garrison Southfield Park and Olymbec USA. These property owners spent $17 million over three and a half years to clean up the sites. Their efforts included cleaning from floor to ceiling, specialized triple-rinsing of HVAC systems, and legally removing all hazardous materials.
Previously, the Attorney General’s office settled with Garrison Southfield Park and Olymbec USA for $250,000 due to their responsible actions during the cleanup process.
This week’s ruling concludes a lawsuit filed by Yost’s office against both the recycling companies and the property owners.
