United Parcel Service Inc. and its affiliates will pay $1.7 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the district attorneys for 45 California counties, alleging the shipping giant sent improperly labeled hazardous waste to area landfills, the Riverside County district attorney’s office announced Monday.
The lawsuit, filed in San Joaquin County Superior Court on July 23, came after a years-long investigation into 140 UPS locations in California, according to a statement from the office. The matter was investigated by the district attorney’s offices in Riverside, Yolo, San Joaquin and San Bernadino counties, among others.
The suit alleged that UPS irresponsibly disposed of hazardous and medical waste in “regular trashbins,” which contained corrosive, ignitable and toxic materials. The trash was then sent to landfills not meant to receive it, officials said…