Fisher said that last May 21 a state police trooper conducted an inspection of a waste-hauling truck operated by Randall Reed as part of its Operation Clean Sweep program. The trooper testified that when he removed the tarp covering the trailer, he observed what he believed to be infectious medical waste.

The trooper testified that he saw ventilator tubes, pill bottles, latex gloves, a scalp, brown hair, face shields, bloody protective clothing, bloody latex gloves, fecal matter and bloody hospital pads.

Fisher said that under state law, infectious waste is a subcategory of municipal waste and there are specific regulations that control its handling, transportation and disposal. Among those requirements is that a licensed infectious waste transporter can only transport such waste and is must be transported in a ridged, puncture-resistant container.

Fisher said both Waste Management of New York and Kephart Trucking are charged with three counts each of violating Pennsylvania's Infectious and Chemotherapeutic Waste Disposal Act. Each count is a third-degree misdemeanor and carries a penalty of up to $25,000 per count.