Hy-Vee has agreed to pay a fine of about $5,000 after illegally disposing of disinfectant wipes it had been ordered to stop selling in 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a news release.

The West Des Moines-based grocery chain declined to comment.

The case stems from November 2020, when the EPA contacted a Kansas City, Missouri, company, MJB Worldwide LLC, about its unauthorized manufacture and distribution of Outlaw Germ Justice Disinfectant Wipes. The agency said the company had failed to comply with federal regulations requiring registration of any pesticide product, including wipes meant to kill bacteria and viruses.

The EPA said MJB gave assurances it had recalled all Outlaw products and that any future production would comply with federal law. But it said that in January 2021, an EPA inspector found reformulated Outlaw wipes being sold at an Overland Park, Kansas, Hy-Vee.

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The agency issued an order requiring MJB to stop distributing the wipes. It also required Hy-Vee to stop selling them at 27 stores in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Minnesota and "sequester any remaining product under their control."

After the order, Hy-Vee disposed of some of the wipes without notifying or seeking approval from the EPA, according to the news release. Outlaw wipes contain concentrations of chemicals which can cause "severe eye and skin irritation if used improperly," the EPA said.

It said Hy-Vee paid a civil penalty of $5,374 for violating the terms of the order.

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MJB Worldwide settled a separate case with the EPA and is no longer in business, according to the EPA.

“The registration of pesticide products with EPA is critical to protecting public health so consumers are aware of a product’s ingredients, how the product can be safely used, and how the product should be properly stored and disposed,” David Cozad, director of EPA Region 7’s Lenexa, Kansas-based Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division, said in the news release.

Philip Joens covers retail, real estate and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-284-8184, pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Hy-Vee improperly disposed of banned disinfectant wipes, fined $5,000