GOTEC Plus Sun LLC, a coatings company that's part of the GOTEC Group, pled guilty on Friday to illegal storage of hazardous waste, the U.S. Department of Justice says.
"The illegal accumulation and storage of hundreds of containers of hazardous waste at GOTEC posed a substantial danger to plant workers, emergency responders and the general public," says Adam Gustafson, deputy assistant attorney general in the Environmental and Natural Resources Division. "This prosecution sends the message that hazardous waste generators must properly handle hazardous wastes or potentially face felony prosecution for their illegal conduct."
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GOTEC's plant in Williamstown, Ky., produced vehicle parts, applying coatings and adhesives to metal parts. The process generated hazardous waste, including spent solvents listed in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which establishes a comprehensive program to regulate hazardous wastes to protect health and the environment.
According to court records, in 2024, the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection conducted an investigation in Williamstown and found trailers, shipping containers and an abandoned warehouse containing 249 drums of hazardous waste and 27 cubic yards of hazardous waste stored in cardboard, wooden crates and yellow totes.
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"Companies that cut corners by accumulating hazardous wastes — such as the hundreds of drums of flammable and toxic solvents hidden around the site in this case — rather than disposing of them properly endanger communities, workers and first responders," says EPA Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Jeffrey A. Hall. "Such dangerous neglect is precisely what the law forbids. This case demonstrated cooperative federalism in action. The Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection's inspection program found persistent, intentional violations of the law while EPA's criminal investigative and forensic expertise ensured that the company was held criminally accountable."
The company admitted that between January 2022 and November 2024, it did not properly dispose of all the hazardous waste it was generating, including waste that had been accumulating since 2022. It said it stopped properly disposing of the chemicals due to staffing issues and decreased revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, it stored the waste without a hazardous waste storage permit.
GOTEC was sentenced to a $275,000 fine and a year of probation. On March 30, the court sentenced Natalie Fehse, former general manager of GOTEC's facility, to five years of probation including a special condition of 10 months of home confinement and a $5,000 file for her role in the illegal storage.
