Facts

Nathan Hamilton and Thomas Brennan were executive officers for Metrigen Inc., a biotech company based in San Mateo County.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
The civil law enforcement action, filed in San Mateo County Superior Court on December 2, 2010, alleged that the defendants were closing their laboratory at 849 Mitten Road, Suite 101 in Burlingame in Dec. 2008.

During the closure process, on Dec. 28, 2008, Defendant Brennan paid a residential moving company that was not licensed or authorized to transport hazardous waste a few hundred dollars to dispose of several sealed, unlabeled cardboard boxes. The boxes collectively contained 257 bottles, at least 115 of which contained hazardous waste, acute hazardous waste, and/or extremely hazardous waste.

Multiple bottles displayed labels noting that the contents were water reactive (including violently reactive), air reactive, carcinogenic, harmful to the reproductive system, mutagenic, light sensitive, and/or incompatible with acids. The labels on the bottles were concealed by the sealed boxes. The boxes themselves did not display any warnings regarding the dangerous nature of the contents, such as "flammable," "explosive," "toxic," "do not expose to air," and/or "do not expose to water." The defendants did not provide the moving company any specific instructions on how to dispose of the boxes

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Hamilton and Brennan contended they made a mistake and had no intention of breaking the law.

Result

The San Mateo County District Attorney's Office obtained a stipulated judgment that included (1) civil penalties and cost recover totaling $250,946.00 and (2) a prohibition against Defendant Brennan ever again working in any capacity that involves the transportation, storage, and/or disposal of a substance that, if disposed of, would be hazardous waste.