A Utah County chemical company is accused by federal environmental protection officials of mishandling hazardous wastes, leaving them in open vats and failing to follow required safety protocol.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, federal investigators claim that Parish Chemical Co. allowed hundreds of gallons of various wastes to sit in unsecured, unlabeled containers at its facility, 145 N. Geneva Road, Vineyard.

The suit claims that federal inspectors found waste containers failing and improperly managed in a 2008 site visit. Environmental Protection Agency crews removed "several hundred" containers "to reduce the potential of fire and/or explosion threat" and prevent additional releases of hazardous wastes.

Crews took some of the materials off-site to detonate them, said Tom Sitz, EPA enforcement attorney.

Among the substances found were volatile materials and solvents and flammable materials including methylene chloride, acetone, petroleum ether, benzene, toluene and perchloric acid, the suit states.

In visits in 2007 and 2008, thousands of gallons of chemical waste were not labeled as hazardous, were labeled "?" and "Unknown, Label Mis-sing," or had no label.

Additional allegations:

» Records for wastes shipped off-site were incomplete.

» Drums had collapsed or were in poor condition.

» Hazardous wastes were stored for years beyond a 90-day limit.

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» There was no record of tank inspections or air emissions tests.

» The company did not have liability coverage for accidents.

The federal response has cost $640,000, the suit claims. The suit also seeks penalties of $32,500 to $37,500 per violation.

The suit also names as a defendant Uintah Pharmaceutical Corp., which has dissolved but remains the facility's landowner of record.

Parish Chemical officials did not return calls seeking comment. Its Web site states the company produces chemicals for pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and chemical manufacturing companies.

The company has a history of conflict with federal inspectors. The federal government previously sued Parish Chemical in 1997, seeking clean-up costs after a 1992 fire at the site, and claimed rampant chemical storage violations. Fire investigators had declared the fire was started by arsonists. Company president Wesley Parish then accused federal authorities of setting the blaze.

Before the fire, Parish had worked as an undercover informant while selling criminals the chemical ingredients needed to make illegal stimulants. He has alleged the fire was set in retaliation when he refused to continue cooperating.

He filed his own federal lawsuit against the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and other law-enforcement agencies; it was dismissed.