RIVERSIDE – District Attorney Mike Hestrin joined with the California Attorney General’s Office, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, and District Attorneys from 11 other counties to announce today, Oct. 22, 2024, that a stipulated judgment has been filed in The People vs Walmart, Inc. Once the judgment is signed by an Alameda County judge, Walmart will be ordered to pay $7.5 million in civil penalties and costs due to environmental violations.

The judgment in this civil lawsuit was filed in Alameda County Superior Court and is the result of an investigation into the unlawful disposal of hazardous waste and medical waste by Walmart at its 300-plus California retail locations and distribution centers, including the 33 retail stores and distribution centers in Riverside County. The settlement is the result of more than 70 waste audits statewide from 2015 through 2021.

The lawsuit alleges that instead of storing, transporting, and disposing of hazardous waste and medical waste at authorized hazardous waste and medical waste facilities, Walmart illegally disposed of that waste in regular trash bins and illegally transported it to local landfills, which are not permitted to receive such waste products. The hazardous waste included -- but was not limited to -- hundreds of containers of toxic aerosols and liquid wastes including spray paints, rust removers, bleach, pesticides, and medical waste, such as over-the counter drugs.

Under the settlement, Walmart will be ordered to pay a total of $4,297,040 in civil penalties and $3,202,960 in cost reimbursement. The settlement also imposes injunctive terms, which will require Walmart to hire an independent third-party auditor to conduct three annual rounds of waste audits at its facilities throughout California during the next four years.

As part of this judgment, Riverside County will receive $144,000 in civil penalties and $16,000 in cost reimbursement. The Riverside County Department of Environmental Health will also receive $10,000 in cost reimbursement.

This is the second such case against Walmart with the first judgment having been entered for similar violations in 2010. In that case, Walmart was placed under an injunction from May 2010, through January 2018, that prohibited the unlawful management and disposal of hazardous waste and materials. Despite that injunction, Walmart continued to violate the law which resulted in this second lawsuit.   

Along with the Riverside County DA’s Office, other DA’s Offices involved in the investigation are Alameda, Fresno, Monterey, Orange, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, Solano, Tulare, and Yolo.

The case, 21CV004367, was handled in Riverside County by Deputy District Attorney Lauren R. Martineau of the DA’s Environmental Protection Team.