Trivium Packaging Operated Hazardous Waste Facility Illegally While Ignitable Chemicals Spilled Across Factory Floors

The Facts

On July 8 and 9, 2025, an EPA inspector walked through the Trivium Packaging USA, Inc. facility at 5022 Hollins Road, Roanoke, Virginia. The plant manufactures recyclable metal packaging for food, beverages, and pet food. It generates hazardous waste in the form of ignitable excess coating material, designated as D001 waste, from the inside lacquering process used on 2-piece cans.

What the inspector found was a textbook case of corporate indifference to federal environmental law. Trivium had notified the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality in February 2016 that it was a large quantity generator (LQG) of hazardous waste. That designation carries strict legal obligations. The company was required to operate under a hazardous waste permit or qualify for interim status by meeting specific temporary storage exemptions. It did neither.

The violations documented in EPA Docket No. RCRA-03-2026-0194 span multiple categories: operating without a permit, maintaining unsafe storage conditions, failing to provide emergency preparedness training and coordination, and mismanaging universal waste.

The Misconduct

Operating Without a Permit

The most severe violation was Trivium’s operation of the facility without a hazardous waste permit or interim status. Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), any facility that stores or treats hazardous waste must hold a permit unless it qualifies for an exemption by strictly adhering to temporary storage regulations. Trivium failed to meet the exemption conditions, which meant it was operating an unpermitted hazardous waste storage facility.

This was an ongoing violation. The company had been classified as a large quantity generator since February 5, 2016, nearly a decade before the EPA inspection. The settlement agreement does not specify when the permit violations began, but the legal language makes clear that the company was out of compliance on at least July 8 and July 9, 2025.

Illegible and Missing Container Labels

Federal regulations require that every container of hazardous waste be marked with the date accumulation begins. This is a basic safety and tracking requirement. If a spill or fire occurs, emergency responders need to know how long the material has been stored and whether it has exceeded safe holding periods.

At Trivium’s central accumulation area, the EPA inspector found one container labeled “D001, D026” and “Waste Aqueous Lacque” with an illegible accumulation start date. The label had degraded to the point that no one could read it. This was a container holding ignitable and toxic waste, and the company had no idea how long it had been sitting there.

Ignitable Waste Spilled Across Production Floors

The spills were not minor. At production lines 2A, 2B, 3A, and 3B, the inspector observed ignitable D001 coating material on the outside of satellite accumulation containers and pooled on the floor around them. Satellite accumulation points are located directly at or near the point of waste generation. Workers were operating machinery and walking through areas contaminated with ignitable chemicals.

The regulation violated here is 40 C.F.R. § 262.251, which requires facilities to be maintained and operated in a way that minimizes the possibility of fire, explosion, or unplanned release of hazardous waste to air, soil, or surface water. Trivium did the opposite. It allowed flammable chemicals to accumulate on surfaces and floors in active production areas where ignition sources are present.

Blocked Emergency Equipment Access

In the hazardous waste central accumulation area, the EPA inspector found that aisle space between rows of palleted containers was insufficient for the unobstructed movement of personnel, fire protection equipment, spill control equipment, and decontamination equipment. This violated 40 C.F.R. § 262.255.

This is the kind of violation that kills people. If a fire breaks out or a container ruptures, emergency responders need to be able to move quickly. Blocked aisles mean delayed response. Delayed response in a hazardous waste incident can mean fatalities, severe injuries, and uncontrolled releases into the surrounding environment.

No Emergency Plan Shared with Local Responders

Trivium was required under federal law to submit a quick reference guide of its hazardous waste contingency plan to local police departments, fire departments, hospitals, and state and local emergency response teams. The company had not done so. During the inspection, Trivium personnel admitted that the guide was “in the process of being drafted” and was not ready to be shared.

This is unconscionable. The facility had been a large quantity generator for nearly ten years. Local fire departments and hospitals had no idea what chemicals were on site, where they were stored, or what procedures to follow in the event of a release. If a major incident had occurred, first responders would have been walking in blind.

Missing Training Records for 11 Workers

Federal hazardous waste regulations require that all facility personnel receive initial training on emergency procedures and annual refresher training. The training ensures that workers know how to respond to spills, fires, and other hazardous waste emergencies.

During the document review portion of the inspection, the EPA inspector found that 11 personnel had no records of annual refresher training for several periods within the required three-year retention window. Trivium could not prove that these workers had been trained. The company was legally required to maintain these records. It did not.

Missing Weekly Inspection Records

Hazardous waste storage areas must be inspected at least weekly. The inspections are documented on logs that record the date, time, and findings. These logs are critical for identifying deteriorating containers, leaks, and other hazards before they become emergencies.

Trivium’s inspection logs showed a gap: no inspections were recorded for two consecutive weekly periods between December 6, 2024, and January 6, 2025. That is over a month without documented inspections. The company was either not conducting the inspections or not documenting them. Either scenario is a violation.

Missing Signed Manifests

When hazardous waste is shipped off-site, the generator must receive a signed copy of the manifest from the receiving facility within 60 days. If the signed copy is not received, the generator must submit an Exception Report to the EPA Regional Administrator. This is a critical tracking mechanism to ensure that hazardous waste does not disappear in transit.

During the inspection, the EPA inspector found that Trivium had not received signed copies of four manifests from the designated receiving facilities, and the company had not submitted Exception Reports to the EPA.

Universal Waste Violations

In addition to the ignitable coating waste, Trivium generates universal waste in the form of spent fluorescent lamps. Universal waste has slightly relaxed handling requirements, but it still must be managed safely.

In the electrical shop, the EPA inspector observed 10 open cardboard boxes filled with used fluorescent lamps. The boxes were not closed. They were not labeled with any of the required phrases (“Universal Waste—Lamp(s),” “Waste Lamp(s),” or “Used Lamp(s)”). And the company could not provide any information on when the lamps first became waste, meaning there was no way to track whether they had exceeded the one-year accumulation limit.

Fluorescent lamps contain mercury. Open containers of mercury-containing waste in an electrical shop, where physical damage is likely, create an unnecessary exposure risk for workers and a potential mercury release to the environment.

The Non-Financial Ledger

The settlement agreement is silent on the human cost. There is no mention of how many workers were exposed to ignitable waste on production floors. There is no mention of how long the spills had been occurring before the EPA inspection. There is no mention of whether any worker reported respiratory irritation, chemical burns, or other symptoms.

The 11 workers who have no documented annual refresher training are unnamed. The settlement does not specify their job titles or duties. It does not say whether they were responsible for handling hazardous waste or whether they were simply working in areas where releases could occur. What we know is this: for multiple periods within a three-year window, Trivium Packaging could not prove that these workers had been trained on emergency procedures.

The local fire department, police department, and hospital in Roanoke were operating without knowledge of the hazardous materials stored at 5022 Hollins Road. If a fire, explosion, or major spill had occurred, first responders would have arrived on scene with no contingency plan, no quick reference guide, and no advance coordination with the facility. The company admitted during the inspection that the guide was still being drafted. That means for years, possibly the entire time Trivium had been operating as a large quantity generator, local emergency services had no documentation.

The four missing signed manifests represent an unknown quantity of hazardous waste that was shipped off-site with no confirmation that it arrived at the designated facility. The waste could have been dumped illegally. It could have been released during transport. Trivium did not file Exception Reports, so the EPA had no notice that the waste was unaccounted for.

The spilled ignitable coating material at production lines 2A, 2B, 3A, and 3B represents a fire and explosion hazard that persisted for an unknown duration. The inspection report describes the spills as being on the containers and on the floor. That means the contamination was visible and widespread. Workers would have seen it. Supervisors would have seen it. Management would have been aware. The spills were allowed to remain.

The blocked aisles in the central accumulation area meant that if a container had ruptured or caught fire, emergency responders would have had to move pallets before they could access spill control or firefighting equipment. In an emergency involving ignitable or toxic chemicals, seconds matter. Blocked aisles cost seconds.

The open cardboard boxes filled with mercury-containing fluorescent lamps in the electrical shop represent casual disregard for universal waste regulations and for the health of electrical maintenance workers. Mercury exposure can cause neurological damage. The lamps were stored in open containers, meaning physical damage and mercury release were likely.

Legal Receipts

The verbatim findings from the EPA settlement agreement are reproduced here without alteration or paraphrase.

Societal Impact Mapping

Environmental Degradation

Ignitable D001 waste is classified as hazardous because it poses a fire and explosion risk and because it can release toxic fumes when burned or volatilized. The spills observed at Trivium’s production lines represent direct soil contamination on the factory floor. If the facility has floor drains connected to a wastewater system, the spilled coating material could have been washed into the sewer system and ultimately into local waterways.

The facility is located in Roanoke, Virginia. The Roanoke River watershed drains into the Albemarle Sound in North Carolina. Chemical contamination from industrial facilities in the upper watershed can accumulate downstream and impact aquatic ecosystems, drinking water supplies, and commercial fisheries.

The four missing signed manifests represent an unknown quantity of hazardous waste with no confirmed destination. If that waste was illegally dumped or released during transport, the environmental impact could be severe and geographically dispersed. Without Exception Reports filed with the EPA, there is no record that the agency was ever notified that the waste was unaccounted for.

Public Health

Workers at the Trivium facility were exposed to ignitable chemical vapors and potential dermal contact with spilled coating material. The settlement agreement does not disclose whether any workers filed injury reports or sought medical treatment. The absence of annual refresher training for 11 workers means that a significant portion of the workforce may not have known proper emergency response procedures if a major spill or fire had occurred.

The failure to coordinate with local hospitals means that emergency room physicians and nurses in Roanoke had no advance knowledge of the specific hazardous chemicals used and stored at the facility. If workers had been injured in a chemical release, medical responders would have had to identify the substances and appropriate treatments without prior preparation.

The open containers of mercury-containing fluorescent lamps in the electrical shop represent a chronic low-level exposure risk for maintenance workers. Mercury vapor is odorless and colorless. Workers would not have known they were being exposed unless air monitoring was conducted. The settlement agreement contains no mention of air monitoring or medical surveillance for mercury exposure.

Economic Inequality

Trivium Packaging is a subsidiary of Trivium Packaging Group, a multinational corporation with operations in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company reported global revenues in the billions of dollars in recent years. The $18,750 fine represents a rounding error on the corporate balance sheet.

The workers who were exposed to spilled ignitable waste and who worked in a facility with blocked emergency aisles and no coordination with local responders are not compensated in this settlement. There is no victim compensation fund. There is no requirement for medical monitoring. There is no guarantee of back pay or hazard pay for the periods when the facility was operating in violation of federal law.

The settlement agreement includes a clause stating that Trivium “agrees not to deduct for federal tax purposes the civil penalty assessed in this Consent Agreement and Final Order.” This suggests that without the clause, the company would have attempted to write off the fine as a business expense, effectively making taxpayers subsidize the cost of its legal violations.

The “Cost of a Life” Metric

What Now?

The settlement agreement was signed by Brian M. Vondran, Senior Director of Finance F&S NA for Trivium Packaging on May 20, 2026. The EPA signatory was Andrea Bain, Acting Director, Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division, EPA Region 3. The final order was issued by Jeffrey Nast, Regional Judicial Officer, EPA Region 3 on July 13, 2026.

No individual executives or facility managers are named as respondents. No personal liability was assessed. The corporation paid the fine. The individuals who made the decisions to operate without a permit, to allow chemical spills to persist on production floors, to withhold emergency plans from local responders, and to fail to train 11 workers are not identified in the settlement.

Watchlist

The following regulatory bodies have jurisdiction over hazardous waste management and worker safety in Virginia:

• Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VADEQ): The state agency responsible for administering the authorized hazardous waste program under RCRA. VADEQ was notified by the EPA of this enforcement action on March 12, 2026.
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 3: Retains enforcement authority over RCRA violations in Virginia. EPA can initiate additional enforcement actions if new violations are discovered or if Trivium fails to comply with the terms of the settlement.
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA): Federal agency with authority to investigate workplace safety violations, including exposure to hazardous chemicals and failure to provide required training.

Next Steps

The settlement agreement states that Trivium has certified that “the alleged violations have been corrected.” There is no independent verification requirement. The EPA is not required to conduct a follow-up inspection. The public has no mechanism to confirm that the spills have been cleaned up, that emergency plans have been shared, or that workers have been trained.

If you are a worker at the Trivium Roanoke facility or a resident of the surrounding community, you have the right to request public records from VADEQ and the EPA under the Freedom of Information Act. You can request copies of inspection reports, manifests, training records, and enforcement correspondence. You can submit complaints to OSHA if you believe workplace safety violations are ongoing.

If you are a member of a local fire department, police department, or hospital emergency room in Roanoke, you have the right to demand that Trivium provide you with a complete hazardous waste contingency plan and quick reference guide. You can request facility tours and tabletop emergency exercises. You can refuse to respond to incidents at the facility until you have been provided with adequate information and training.

Organize. Document. Demand accountability. The $18,750 fine is not accountability. It is the cost of doing business. Real accountability requires public pressure, worker organizing, and sustained community oversight.