MAPLE GROVE, MN -- Universal Circuits has been fined $45,000 by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for hazardous waste violations.

The printed circuit board fabricator reportedly failed to "quickly and thoroughly clean up spilled corrosive chemicals, solvents and other hazardous wastes," according to the agency's reports. Pollutants reportedly leached into nearby soil.

The company has since corrected all alleged violations and is currently operating in compliance, the agency said.

According to the report, county officials "observed and documented conditions indicating that Universal Circuits had failed to recover spilled hazardous wastes as rapidly and thoroughly as possible [and] documented that industrial waste or other pollutants had breached a trench inside the building, resulting in a discharge from the facility to the soil, and facility staff had failed to prevent a release of corrosive hazardous waste acid."

The PCB company was also cited for improper storage of hazardous waste and inadequate training and record-keeping.

The report indicated Universal Circuits agreed to evaluate and remove all waste from the facility’s floors, trenches and USTs; prepare a plan for the review and assessment of the structural integrity of the facility’s tanks, floors, trench system, sanitary and storm sewer systems, and out-of-service USTs; submit a report on how and when inadequacies found during the assessment will be addressed; and submit a plan for cleaning up soil and groundwater if contaminated by chemicals released from the facility.

The alleged violations were discovered in 2007 and 2008, the report said.

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