Riverside County Receives Major Penalties in $7.7 Million Verizon Wireless Environmental Compliance Judgment

The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office announced that it will receive significant civil penalties and costs as part of a $7.7 million stipulated judgment entered against Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, for violations of California environmental laws governing hazardous materials and aboveground petroleum storage.

As a result of the judgment, Riverside County will receive $813,437.50 in civil penalties and $13,754.25 in costs. In addition, the Riverside County Department of Environmental Health will receive $315,375 in civil penalties and $3,000 in costs. The case was handled locally by Deputy District Attorney Lauren R. Martineau of the Riverside County District Attorney’s Environmental Protection Team.

The judgment resolves violations of California’s Hazardous Materials Business Plan requirements and the Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act identified at Verizon Wireless facilities throughout Southern California, including sites within Riverside County. The civil lawsuit was filed in Orange County Superior Court following a statewide investigation into environmental compliance failures at hundreds of Verizon’s wireless telecommunications facilities.

Beginning in January 2019, investigators found violations at numerous Verizon sites where hazardous materials and aboveground petroleum storage tanks are used to power emergency generators and backup systems. Verizon stores materials such as lead-acid batteries and petroleum products at these facilities, which require detailed reporting, onsite documentation, employee training, and regulatory oversight under California law.

The complaint alleges that Verizon repeatedly failed to submit complete and accurate Hazardous Materials Business Plans to the California Environmental Reporting System, failed to maintain required copies of those plans onsite, and did not provide adequate employee training for responding to hazardous material releases. The company also failed to allow inspections at multiple locations and did not pay required permit fees that support local hazardous materials oversight.

These requirements are critical to ensuring that first responders, environmental regulators, and public safety officials have accurate and timely information about hazardous materials stored at commercial facilities during emergencies.

Verizon was brought into compliance only after investigative agencies contacted the company regarding the violations. There was no evidence of environmental harm at the affected facilities.

In addition to county penalties, Verizon was ordered to pay $375,000 toward Supplemental Environmental Projects that will benefit the California CUPA Forum Board, Western States Project, California Hazardous Materials Investigators Association, and the CalEPA Environmental Enforcement and Training account.

The investigation involved a coordinated effort by prosecutors from Riverside, Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura counties, as well as the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office.