Couple-is-fined-for-e-cycling-in-home.html

Came across this article that might be of interest for you e-cyclers. Sorry it is only a partial article.

Couple is fined for e-cycling in home | AMM | 9/10/2012

Greene County Couple Accused of Improperly Disposing E-Waste

here's a complete article. Not much more information but still a good heads up for scrappers everywhere

Wow that's in my state. So your no supost to take ewaste apart or what?

Ha! FINED! for ALLEDGEDLY! dang! what kinda town is that? There's also a 43% are furious?? Furious about what? Furious because they were recycling, or furious because they were fined?

Improperly disposing of ewaste. Probably roadside dumping. I'm curious because everything I've come across can be disposed if or recycled properly. Technically couldn't all people who put Electronics out curbside be fined?

might also be possible they were using hazardous chemicals for gold recovery and skipping proper disposal methods.

20 thousand is a hefty smack on the wrist........

far as I know "alledged" merely means accused of it. How is they were fined over allegations? Yall must be right about the "something more than tearing down a computer" aspect

When I originally joined the site I had mentioned registering or getting specific permits to handle e-waste. They are normally rather inexpensive and the process is normally quite simple. Some states are different than others. In NY it is easy to register and the fee is around $200.00. This does require you to keep logs of the weights coming in and out and where the e-waste is inevitably going.

Like I said though, every state is different. Better safe than sorry. By registering and getting your permits it also gives you something to show your customers. Peace of mind goes a long way..

So if you dispose of the materials properly you're good right? They were probably throwing like plastic and crap over a bank on the side of a dirt road which is illegal correct?

Originally Posted by Bear

far as I know "alledged" merely means accused of it. How is they were fined over allegations? Yall must be right about the "something more than tearing down a computer" aspect

These are not people being convicted of theft, murder, etc. These are environmental violations. There are fines that are immediately presented. They will have their day in court, more than likely with the Environmental control board. It sounds to me that they were mixing their household garbage with the stuff that they considered excess waste from their business. That is how most home businesses get caught. If you are running a home business and create more waste or different types of waste that are outside the normal household waste stream, your garbage men are trained to see it and say something. The property taxes you pay only cover the cost of normal household garbage, not the garbage that is created through running a home business. Now, if you were running a home business that only created some excess paper from printing things by working on a computer all day, that is one thing. But if you are dismantling hundreds of computers, that is a completely different ball of wax.

did some more digging on the original story link and noticed the "tags" created for the search engines to index the story

one of the tags was "lead" so clicking on that tag brought up this missing nugget of info

Originally Posted by oldtoothlessbassmaster

did some more digging on the original story link and noticed the "tags" created for the search engines to index the story

one of the tags was "lead" so clicking on that tag brought up this missing nugget of info

Also in the original article it is mentioned that broken glass from CRT monitors was found in this couples yard. Apparently they were breaking the glass from the used monitors and possibly trying to dispose of it in their yard. I think we all know what a health risk this can create if the lead would get into the drinking water.

A follow-up inspection showed that the materials had been removed, but broken cathode ray tube glass was found in the yard and the Coffmans did not provide inspectors with details of what happened to six pallets of electronic scrap.

" the Coffmans did not provide inspectors with details of what happened to six pallets of electronic scrap" no wonder the neighbors are complaining

Originally Posted by oldtoothlessbassmaster

did some more digging on the original story link and noticed the "tags" created for the search engines to index the story

one of the tags was "lead" so clicking on that tag brought up this missing nugget of info

Nice digging! They were probably smashing the glass and throwing it into a garbage bag. I have a feeling that this is just the beginning of these lawsuits. Larger companies, especially companies who do not pay for scrap, will feel the heat from small e-waste recyclers (as they will be getting less of the valuable stuff and more of the invaluable stuff). Their response will be to make barriers of entry for anyone else in the business. We see this in the lawn care business already. To spray any type of weed killer (like you would buy at Wall Mart) requires you to have a pesticide licenses. The fine is 10,000. Small companies like me cannot pay $250 a year to keep this certification, where as larger companies can. So, I simply have to tell my customers I cannot do it.


It's best to keep a paper trail.
Get reciepts from Staples or Good Will (so you can show you were properly disposing them)
Take pics of all hard drives being destroyed

no doubt they would of been crushing and burying, the fine should of been more, like an extra zero.

but roundup? think people that use roundup should be shot too, what's wrong with pulling up a weed?
or what about pouring boiling water on it?
roundup is for losers, scum of the world are people that use it infact, aswell as monsanto who make it and cover up the truth about it.

those links won't work for me so I still don't see the full article. I do however, see a lot of "i suppose" "Apparently they were" "probably" "sounds to me" etc, all assuming. Meanwhile I still believe it could be as innocent, or no more than things like we all do most every day, coupled with over zealous neighbors and inspectors. Hek, I broke the tail from a monitor because it wouldn't let the lawnmower box close for delivery to Goodwill, and there may be a sliver or two of it still laying out there. "Six pallets of electronic scrap"? Could been anything from extension cords to transistor radios. Opinions are everyone's right to have, but when they are made from mere assumptions, or by overzealous authorities and tutti fruiti neighbors, they can also serve to get innocent people hurt. If you'll look, there is another thread with a very similar issue currently happening to an SMF member, simply because his neighbors don't like a recycler next door, and they got the TV news involved, slow news day?