The largest part of the total penalty – $146,000 – was for failing to register trucks as waste transport vehicles and then using them to make 73 trips to its transfer station and to County Landfill .

DEP spokeswoman Freda Tarbell said each trip is considered a separate violation, and the state’s Waste Transportation Safety Act sets a $2,000 penalty for each violation.

Another $10,800 in penalties were levied for a number of waste transport violations by Veolia trucks uncovered during  DEP inspections April 11 and 24, 2007 at County Landfill.

The violations involved a truck with an inadequately covered load, a leaking roll-off container, inadequate signage (waste trucks must display signs regarding what they carry) and trucks without waste vehicle authorization.

And a penalty of $3,470 was levied for accepting more waste than allowed at its Pittsfield transfer station in Warren County .

Veolia officials told DEP the station accepted slightly less than 132 tons of waste April 11, 2007 . The station’s permit allows no more than 120 tons per day.

DEP officials discovered the Pittsfield station accepted more than 142 tons on April 12, 2007 .

Veolia area manager Ed Yahner said his company purchased new trucks to replace trucks purchased from County Environmental that no longer met Veolia’s safety and environmental standards. However, Veolia failed to obtain new waste-hauler authorizations from DEP.

“We regret that these new trucks did not have the required DEP stickers,” Yahner said. “We have developed internal procedures to ensure that all new vehicles have the proper authorization.

Yahner said Veolia now uses a new DEP on-line authorization system that enables the company to purchase waste vehicle stickers with a credit card.

Most of the authorization sticker violations involved a single truck that made multiple trips without being authorized.

Yahner stressed there was no harm to the environment from the authorization problem, and that the violations actually stemmed from Veolia’s efforts to replace older vehicles that did not meet standards.

“Veolia strives to protect the health, safety and environment of the communities we serve,” Yahner said in a released statement. “We take this responsibility very seriously.

Veolia’s local operations are based in Brockway, near where it operates the Greentree Landfill in Elk County , and Yahner told the Clarion News his company has not had any violations, either transportation or waste volume-related, since last April.

Veolia has paid all the penalties and resolved the transport and volume violations, Tarbell said. The review of the Paint Township application continued during the enforcement action, but no final decision would have been made or permit issued while the matter was outstanding.

“DEP monitors trash hauling vehicles and municipal waste facilities to ensure that refuse is being transported, transferred and disposed of in a safe and responsible manner,” DEP Regional Director Kelly Burch said in a March 17 release.

“The objective is to protect motorists and the communities where waste facilities are located and through which trash trucks travel.”

The $160,278 penalty will be deposited in Pennsylvania ’s Solid Waste Abatement Fund, which finances cleanups of illegal dumps and other hazards to public health.

The company has submitted an application to establish a waste transfer station just north of I-80 Exit 60 in Paint Township .

DEP officials are now reviewing technical aspects of that permit application, and Tarbell said that review is continuing.

Veolia has options on the former Beckwith Machinery repair facility along Route 66, and proposes to use the building to offload smaller waste collection trucks and to load the municipal waste on larger, over-the-road vehicles to transport the waste to its Greentree Landfill or other disposal sites.

Veolia presented its plans at a DEP public meeting last August. Local concerns and objections were raised involving odors, litter, animal problems and a negative effect on economic development.

Veolia officials said odors and other problems would be minimal as the transfer process would take place inside the building, and that some businesses may use the company’s waste management services.

As part of its review process, the DEP announced in February it had determined the benefits of the transfer facility would outweigh potential harms. A decision whether to approve the permit could be reached by the end of May.