North Texas Storage Facility Owner Finds Unit Full Of Needles, Syringes: 'This One Was A Surprise'
IRVING, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Dirty needles littered the ground, and boxes splattered with blood lined the wall.
Red bags marked "hazard" filled the 200 square-foot space all the way up to the ceiling.
"I was mad. I was actually furious," said Ron Hines
The owner of the Sixth Street Mini-Storage in Irving made the discovery in January after cutting the lock on the unit.
The customer renting it, he said, hadn't made payments since September.
That happens from time to time, but Hines rarely finds anything interesting.
"This one was a surprise," said Hines.
The same customer rented another four units at Dependable Mini-Storage a mile away.
A manager there confirmed they were found filled with medical waste, too, after payments stopped arriving in October.
Hines said he reported the discovery to state and federal agencies but was surprised to learn he was the one liable to be cited with improper storage of medical waste.
One company's quote to take care of the mess, he said, was $56,000.
"Now I have to spend the money to get rid of this stuff," he said.
These boxes indicate the trash came from "MedClean Management Solutions" which is listed online as a company specializing in hazardous waste disposal.
Listed phone numbers, though, led to seemingly unrelated businesses.
Hines does have a name and address for his former customer, but he says no one seems willing to take action against him.
"I've called the district attorney's office. I've called the city attorney's office. I've called the mayor. I've called the EPA. Nobody will do anything criminal to these guys. They let 'em do this to people and then they make us the villains and we're responsible for cleaning it up," he said.