Baltimore-based medical waste disposal company Curtis Bay Energy has been fined $1.75 million for improperly incinerating waste, according to an Oct. 17 report from The Washington Post.
The company, America's largest medical waste incinerator, was seen by an investigator for the Maryland attorney general's office inadequately burning waste, loading it into a container and driving it to a landfill in Virginia.
Surveillance by the attorney general's office in 2020 was part of an investigation that spanned several years and led to the largest penalties ever imposed in an environmental case, according to the report.
Curtis Bay Energy has been sentenced to pay $1 million to the Maryland Clean Water Fund and $750,000 to support environmental projects to benefit the underserved Baltimore community where the waste incinerator has been operating for decades. The company is also on a two-year probation.
Curtis Bay pleaded guilty to inadequately incinerating medical waste and hiding an unpermitted water outflow from state inspectors.
The company was sold in 2021 before the plea agreement, and new ownership is taking measures to stop the illegal behavior, including adding a regulatory oversight position, according to the report.
The company primarily disposes of surgical gloves and bedding that has come into contact with blood, feces or other bodily fluids. It handles medical waste from numerous sources across the U.S. and Canada.