IT Corporation was a United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 industrial company whose principal business was the disposal of industrial hazardous waste

Hazardous waste

A hazardous waste is waste that poses substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment. According to the U.S. environmental laws hazardous wastes fall into two major categories: characteristic wastes and listed wastes.Characteristic hazardous wastes are materials that are known...

. At least as early as the 1970s the company was one of the largest market share holders of the liquid hazardous waste disposal sector in the western U.S. One of the principal facilities was a large set of industrial waste disposal ponds in Martinez, California

Martinez, California

Martinez is a city and the county seat of Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 35,824 at the 2010 census. The downtown is notable for its large number of preserved old buildings...

.

The business activities of IT fell under strict regulation by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District

Bay Area Air Quality Management District

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is a public agency that regulates the stationary sources of air pollution in the nine counties of California's San Francisco Bay Area: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, southwestern Solano, and southern Sonoma...

 and the State of California Regional Water Quality Control Board, as well as the Contra Costa County Health Department.

Air quality oversight

Because of the proximity of the Martinez ponds to sensitive receptors (including residences), there is a history of odor

Odor

An odor or odour is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds, generally at a very low concentration, that humans or other animals perceive by the sense of olfaction. Odors are also commonly called scents, which can refer to both pleasant and unpleasant odors...

 complaints from individuals, especially on low wind velocity days where the ponds are upwind of residences. IT established an "on call" air monitoring response to test odor

Olfaction

Olfaction is the sense of smell. This sense is mediated by specialized sensory cells of the nasal cavity of vertebrates, and, by analogy, sensory cells of the antennae of invertebrates...

 whenever the city of Martinez received a citizen complaint. These tests together with routine periodic monitoring provided an extensive database to assist in managing waste pond decision-making.

Water Quality oversight

For protection of groundwater, IT conducted regular groundwater and waste pond sampling to test for a range of analytes as well as pH

PH

In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...

. These test results were submitted to the county health department and the state water board. Generally water quality testing confirmed the satisfactory operation of IT's liner control program.

Bankruptcy sale on winding up business

In early 2002, after IT declaring bankruptcy, substantially all IT assets and some liabilities were sold to the Shaw Group. Prior to declaring bankruptcy, IT Corporation was involved in the Encanto Gas Holder decommissioning for San Diego Gas and Electric, and the IT project manager for the decommissioning is a named defendant in the environmental crimes trial United States v. San Diego Gas and Electric (2007).