In December of 2009, Michael Redding, owner of R&I Consulting, acquired equipment and assets inside the former buildings of Kohler Print Group, 9400 Page Avenue, St. Louis, MO. Kohler Print Group had declared bankruptcy and was closed by their bank. The bank subsequently sold the assets/equipment inside the buildings and Redding became responsible for liquidating/cleaning out the buildings. As part of Redding’s agreement with the bank, the buildings at the site of Kohler Print Group were to be returned to the bank empty and clean.
Inside one of the buildings were 55-gallon drums labeled as both non-hazardous and hazardous waste, and pallets of printing ink. When the buildings were to be returned to the bank, Redding acquired several tractor trailers from the company Motor Services Incorporated. These tractor trailers were to serve as temporary storage for assets remaining in the buildings. The tractor trailers were loaded and stored at the site of Motor Services Incorporated. The containers of hazardous waste were placed in the nose of the trailer and other items were arranged in such a manner that the containers were not easily visible. Employees at Motor Services Incorporated later discovered that drums and pallets of ink labeled as hazardous and non-hazardous waste were being stored in the tractor trailers.
Redding had rented these units around April of 2010 and had made one payment to Motor Services Incorporated in May of 2010. He has made no subsequent payments. Motor Services Incorporated is currently owed more than $7,700.00 in back rent and despite numerous attempts, including certified mail, they have received no correspondence with Redding since the aforementioned payment.
EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division became aware of the trailer and its contents from information provided by a concerned citizen. CID made contact with Redding and advised him that he was responsible for the disposal of the containers. Redding stated that he was bankrupt, was losing his house and would not dispose of the containers.
On June 3, 2011, CID and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources sampled the contents of 17 drums in the abandoned trailer. Sixteen of the samples were found to be characteristic hazardous waste, due to ignitability.
CID requested assistance from EPA’s Emergency Response South Branch in disposing of the
drums. ERSB visited the site on November 10, 2011 and discovered, along with the drums there
were twelve pallets containing five gallon buckets of ink, and five pallets of ink in five pound
containers.
