The Maryland attorney general is investigating whether a Severn manufacturing company has illegally dumped or stored hazardous waste.
The target of the probe that began just before Thanksgiving is Powercon Corp., which makes and exports industrial electrical switches.
"I can confirm that there is an investigation going on," said Elizabeth B. Volz, supervising attorney of the attorney general's environmental crimes unit. "We have had some allegations about some hazardous waste there."
Investigators with the Maryland Department of the Environment have been at the site. Last week, they were digging and removing samples of suspected hazardous materials, a spokeswoman said.
The samples are being analyzed but it could take several weeks to identify them, she said.
Ms. Volz would not say what type of waste is suspected of having been illegally buried. The company has generated and legally removed hazardous waste before, she said.
The generation and disposal of small amounts of waste antifreeze, epoxy paint and copper cleaner is permitted, but it is illegal to store such waste, said Sandra Palmer, the Department of the Environment spokeswoman.
The allegations "initially came up as a result of an employee who was terminated by the company," said Joseph Wolfson, a Reading, Pa., lawyer for Powercon.
The company is cleaning up an area where paint cans were found under a floor, he said, and "every step" of the work was being done with the Department of the Environment's knowledge. The cans had been buried at least 10 to 15 years in what Mr. Wolfson described as an enclosed area that was once an outdoor part of the company's property.
The paint cans "were not put there with the company's direction," Mr. Wolfson said.
The privately held company was founded in 1959. It has about 350 employees and estimated annual revenues of $350 million, according to business directories.
It lies at the end of a small road in Severn that is lined with houses. The Department of the Environment said there did not appear to be an imminent health or safety threat.
Environmental investigations typically take three months to a year, Ms. Volz said.