Problems continue to mount for bankrupt solar panel maker Abound Solar. The company is now in violation of Colorado’s hazardous waste laws.
The Northern Colorado Business Report says an inspector with the Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment found 2,000 pallets of unsold solar panels in a Denver warehouse not approved for hazardous waste storage.
Violations of hazardous waste rules can rack up hefty fines – potentially thousands of dollars per violation, per day. But state health officials aren’t fining the company at this point, according to NCBR reporter Steve Lynn.
"The Health Department wants to make sure that Abound Solar will have the resources, money available to take action to get rid of these panels if it cannot sell them," says Lynn. "It’s going to cost $2.2 million for these panels to be disposed of."
There’s only one facility in Colorado that can dispose of the panels – which Lynn says will likely have to be treated, encased in cement and then buried.
The panels contain cadmium, a potentially cancer-causing metal, although officials say there is no immediate health risk.
Read more at NCBR: Abound Panels Deemed Hazard
