A San Bernardino County judge has ordered Big Lots Stores, who has a store in Yucca Valley, to pay more than $3.5 million. The judgement is the result of an investigation into illegal disposal of hazardous waste at its distribution center in Rancho Cucamonga and trash bins at 206 stores in California. The county said that Big Lots employees failed to properly handle hazardous waste—such as flammable and corrosive liquids, toxic materials, batteries, electronic devices, and other e-waste—at both the stores and distribution center. Instead of being transported to authorized hazardous waste facilities, the waste was deposited into the trash and illegally transported to local landfills not permitted to receive the waste.
