DAN D’AMBROSIO

An investment group made up of the siblings of Burlington's entrepreneurial Handy family has agreed to pay a $70,000 fine for violating Vermont's rules for handling hazardous waste.

The fine was connected to a property owned by Sisters and Brothers Investment Group, LLP at 110 Riverside Ave. in Burlington. Sisters and Brothers includes five Handy siblings — Joseph, Charles, Anthony, Joan and Laura. The Riverside property is described in court filings as a facility for the storage and disposal of hazardous materials and wastes.

The hazardous waste violations cited in court filings included a waste oil spill, which was migrating toward a storm water catch basin that empties into the Winooski River, and 47 55-gallon drums and other containers with "unknown contents," later found to be hazardous waste.

The state Agency of Natural Resources sent team to the property on Feb. 10, 2012 in response to a report of a spill. The vacant property is the former location of a business known as M&H Auto.

At the time, Joseph Handy, who had not reported the spill, told the response team he believed a vehicle had jumped the curb and released the oil on the ground. Assistant Attorney General Rob McDougall said Wednesday Handy later admitted through the settlement agreement there had been a spill.

Joseph Handy did not return a call for comment Wednesday.

To satisfy the terms of the settlement, Sisters and Brothers hired an environmental company that removed 2,155 gallons of waste oil and solvents from the property, as well as broken fluorescent bulbs containing mercury.

McDougall said the $70,000 fine was strictly a penalty for mishandling hazardous waste and that fortunately, there was no significant environmental damage that needed to be mitigated.

"We think it's a significant penalty," McDougall said. "The violations may seem technical, but at the same time it's important to follow the rules. If there was a situation where first responders had to appear at the property, they need to know what's in the containers."

In January 2009, Sisters and Brothers was fined $90,900 for violations of Vermont's lead and consumer fraud laws. The investment group agreed to spend $68,900 to reduce or eliminate lead hazards at 22 rental properties, and pay $22,000 in civil penalties for filing false compliance documents in connection with the state's enforcement action for the lead violations.

McDougall said Sisters and Brothers has fulfilled all the requirements of the 2009 settlement.

"The partnership has a large number of properties and businesses so they have a lot of interaction with the state and laws that apply," McDougall said. "To their credit, in this hazardous waste case they did step up and take corrective action."

Sisters and Brothers owns convenience stores, commercial properties and other real estate mostly in Chittenden County, including Handy's Service Center and the Shell station on South Winooski Avenue downtown, where the family began its business in 1969.

The Handys also purchased seven College Street buildings formerly owned by the Burlington Free Press for $2.8 million in October 2013, and Merchant Bank's historic buildings on the other side of College Street in December 2013.

Contact Dan D'Ambrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosio@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DanDambrosioVT.