While taking responsibility for managing hazardous and biological waste, county officials today said private contractors – not hospital employees – had been hired to handle hazardous and medical waste identified by the DA.

Tesla admitted it illegally disposed of hazardous waste at its service centers in Bay Area cities including San Jose, Gilroy, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Berkeley, Dublin, Fremont, Burlingame, San Francisco and San Rafael, its energy centers, and its Fremont factory.

Attorney General Rob Bonta said undercover inspections of unsecured dumpsters at 16 different Kaiser facilities found sanitizers, medical tubes with body fluids, pharmaceuticals and over 10,000 paper patient records.

About 300 small businesses are participating in the Very Small Quantity Generator hazardous waste disposal program, with first dropoff site opening today, Nov. 2.

For years, DISH carelessly disposed of and sent hazardous waste to local landfills.

As part of the settlement, Ulta Beauty will be required to pay $752,000 in fines and implement a compliance program to ensure its stores properly dispose of hazardous materials in the future.