HILL AIR FORCE BASE -- Base officials are defending the response after mercury was discovered hidden in unmarked plastic bottles on the base last fall.Robert Elliott, chief of the base's environmental management division, said the base went above and beyond ordinary requirements to clean up the mercury.
But the base could face millions in fines after a whistleblower last fall told regulators that base officials failed to report a 2007 mercury spill and instead ordered untrained workers to remove the hazardous material with vacuum cleaners. The mercury had leaked from discarded boiler parts.
Elliott told The Salt Lake Tribune that he responded Thursday by letter to a notice of violation sent by the Utah Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste.
"Our response not only addresses the violations (alleged by regulators), but also seeks to ensure that alleged violations such as this do not occur in the future," he said. Read More
