Irving Storage Facility Owner Stuck With Cleanup Charges After Finding Syringes, Bloody Medical Waste

The owner of an Irving storage facility is wondering why he got stuck with the bill after discovering a mess a customer left behind: a slew of dirty needles and other medical waste."I've called the district attorney's office. I've called the city attorney's office. I've called the mayor. I've called the EPA. Nobody will do anything criminal to these guys," Ron Hines said in an interview with KTVT-TV (Channel 11). "They let 'em do this to people and then they make us the villains and we're responsible for cleaning it up."Hines, the owner of Dependable Mini-Storage, discovered the mess in January after he said a customer stop paying for his storage unit sometime in September. The storage unit included hundreds of syringes, red bags labeled "hazard" and blood-spattered boxes, KTVT reported.When Hines alerted state and federal authorities, he was told he could be held responsible for the unsafe storage of the waste, according to the station."Now I have to spend the money to get rid of this stuff," he said.One cleanup estimate gave Hines sticker shock: $56,000.Other units rented by the same customer included similar medical waste, KTVT reported."I was mad. I was actually furious," Hines said.  Continue reading...