D.A. Seeks Fines of $1.7 Million in Waste Action
The Orange County district attorney’s office is seeking more than $1.7 million in civil fines against a Santa Ana medical laboratory accused of improperly storing and dumping infectious waste.
Key Medical Laboratory Services Inc., 1508 N. Grand Ave., operated by Robert Kline Jr., was named in a civil complaint filed Wednesday in Superior Court. In addition to the fines, the district attorney is seeking to halt the alleged disposal practices.
The complaint alleges that on at least three occasions within the last three years, Key Medical Laboratories kept and disposed of infectious waste in unmarked cardboard boxes at an unauthorized dump site. The laboratory is also accused of failing to sterilize the infectious material before its disposal.
The complaint seeks $160,000 in civil fines for alleged violations of the Business and Professions Code and $1.6 million for alleged violations of the Hazardous Waste Control Law.
Kline and Peter Munchheimer, another defendant employed with the company, could not be contacted for comment.
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