MCADOO -- Lies and libelous, that's how a McAdoo area company is describing allegations made by former employees.
Their statements sparked agents from the State Attorney Generals Environmental Crimes Unit to search the company in Carbon County.
Hazleton Oil and Environmental near McAdoo continues to operate its waste oil recycling business. Former employees have given state agents a list of alleged wrongdoing.
Technicians searched the business and confiscated chemical samples, business records and computers. Some former employees said the company dumped contaminated waste oil, stored hazardous waste and flushed anti freeze down sewer drains.
The search warrant the state used describes even more. In it former employees of Hazelton Oil said the business mixed hazardous waste oil with less contaminated oil and sold it, submitted bogus reports to their customers and labs and buried contaminated soil and fracking gel.
Neighbor Ryan Kiep runs a beer distributorship nearby.
"Nobody should have to issue a warrant to anybody's company and see what`s going on behind closed doors. They should be especially very open about something like that especially when when you have a business that`s recycling in the first place which is supposed to be doing good for the community," said Kiep.
Hazleton Oil in a statement said none of the test pits dug by state agents contained the materials described by the employees and called their claims untrue and libelous.
The state attorney generals office won't comment about their ongoing investigation.
The State Attorney General and the Department of Environmental Protection will review all the records, soil and chemical samples they confiscated at Hazleton Oil and determine if they have a criminal case against the company.