United States v. GOTEC Plus Sun, LLC, et al.

On April 17, 2026, a court sentenced GOTEC Plus Sun, LLC, (GOTEC) for violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste storage provision (42 U.S.C. § 6928(d)(2)(A)). The company will pay a $270,000 fine and complete a one-year term of probation. General Manager Natalie Fehse was sentenced to pay a $5,000 fine and complete a five-year term of probation to include 10 months of home detention for the same charge.

GOTEC applied coatings and adhesives to metal automotive parts and generated hazardous waste when the manufacturing equipment was cleaned of overspray. The Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection inspected the facility in June 2024 and discovered 249 drums and 27 cubic yards of hazardous waste stored without a permit throughout the facility.

Between January 2022 and November 2024, GOTEC did not properly dispose of all the hazardous waste it was generating, including hazardous waste that had been accumulating at the facility since 2022. GOTEC stated that it stopped properly disposing of hazardous due to staffing issues, and decreased revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, it stored hazardous waste at the facility without a RCRA permit.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.