A major Rio Rancho employer was slapped with a fine for not storing hazardous waste.

The New Mexico Environment Department fined Intel for violating the state’s hazardous waste management regulations in March.

On March 25, NMED conducted a hazardous waste compliance evaluation inspection at Intel Corporation. Inspectors discovered that Intel failed to close several containers of universal waste lamps. Universal waste lamps are bulbs used for standard office lighting and can contain levels of mercury and lead that make them hazardous waste when disposed. State law requires that such containers and packages remain closed and must lack evidence of leakage, spillage or damage that could cause leakage under reasonable foreseeable conditions.

Liz Shipley, a spokeswoman for Intel, said the lamps were not broken and didn’t present a health hazard and were staged for recycling. She said the company is required to store the lamps in closed and labeled containers.

“Intel responded immediately by properly placing the lamps in appropriately labeled closed containers,” Shipley said. “In addition, we have increased communication on-site regarding proper management of these lamps and are conducting spot audits to ensure Intel is in compliance.”

The violation was included in a letter written by James Bearzi, chief of Hazardous Waste Bureau for the NMED, dated May 22.

He went on to say in the letter that the violations cited have been addressed and no further action is required.

Marcy Brandenburg, the spokeswoman for Corrales Residents for Clean Air and Water, said she was disappointed that it took the NMED so long to provide her and her neighbors with a letter regarding the violations.

“They withheld their violation notice from the residents for two months until they could send a letter that also cleared Intel at the same time,” Brandenburg said. “This is typical that we couldn’t find out about it until months afterwards.”

Brandenburg claims she and others have suffered from migraines and nausea from chemicals emitted from the computer-chip giant.

It’s apparently a difficult theory to prove as the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), in February, concluded that for most of the chemicals measured in the outdoor air, the available air monitoring data are not adequate to evaluate fully the potential public health consequences of Intel’s air emissions.

The ATSDR has determined that Intel emits chemicals capable of resulting in unpleasant odors in the community, but the measured air pollution levels of these chemicals were below levels for health concerns.

Officials from ATSDR have said that Intel is emitting odors and that those odors can trigger different responses in different people. ATSDR compared it to second-hand smoke.