Radioactive waste at former Lenexa laboratory costs former owner $544,000 in court
A former Lenexa laboratory owner has been ordered to pay more than $500,000 for illegally storing radioactive materials.
Ahmed El-Sherif was found guilty in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., of storing hazardous waste without a license.
El-Sherif, 63, of Leawood, was the owner and operator of the now-closed Beta Chem Laboratory in the 14400 block of West 100th Street.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment took control of the facility in 2013 after issuing an emergency order to seize and secure radioactive materials.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency served a search warrant at the site in early 2014. Its agents found numerous containers of hazardous waste that were contaminated with radiation, according to federal prosecutors.
Officials with the EPA said it cost more than $700,000 to remove the hazardous materials and clean up the site.
A federal judge ordered El-Sherif to pay $544,287 in restitution toward those costs and also placed him on probation for two years.
