The company which initially won a lucrative contract to dispose of 7,402 pallets of personal hygiene products that include hand sanitizer containing a high concentration of ethyl alcohol, and some contaminated with methanol, was founded less than 15 months ago in Wyoming and is led by a professional chef.
4e Brands Northamerica claimed that after an exhaustive search, only one company – Latitude Liquids – was found to be qualified to dispose of that much recalled/unused hand sanitizer. Latitude Liquids would be paid at least $600,000 for the work, court records indicated.
On its website, Latitude Liquids claims it is “an organization experienced in the ethanol-based hand sanitizer and recycling markets…” Latitude says it accepts “unwanted, expired, or unsellable ethanol-based hand sanitizer” from clients. The unused product “will be responsibly recycled to be used again as ethanol.”
A company named “Latitude Liquids LLC” was formed on Jan. 14, 2022, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, records from the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office show. Furthermore, the company “was set up by a registered agent service and no officers or directors are listed.”
No telephone number is listed on Latitude’s website. Communication with the company can be accomplished only by completing a form on the website. Southwest Ledger emailed an inquiry to the company but received no reply.
Latitude says it is located in Laredo, Texas, but its “depacking” and recycling facilities are located in Mexico.
At the bottom of the web page is a Latitude Liquids logo and these words: “Designed by The Chef Firm.”
Searches of records of the Texas Secretary of State and of the Texas Comptroller show that Latitude “has not made the proper filings” with either agency “and is not legally authorized to conduct business in Texas.”
Similarly, Southwest Ledger reviewed records of the Oklahoma Secretary of State and found 28 companies with names that include “Latitude.” None is/was named Latitude Liquids.
4e Brands Northamerica LLC filed for dissolution last year in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, Laredo Division. 4e informed the court that company officials selected Latitude Liquids to dispose of its supplies of hand sanitizer by recycling some of the product and destroying the rest.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency both challenged that disposal plan as insufficient. The TCEQ and EPA mailed a cease-and-desist letter dated Oct. 19, 2022, to Michael McGovern of Latitude Liquids, in Rogers, Arkansas, directing him to provide myriad documents and a recycling plan for the hand sanitizer.
Latitude Liquids’ 6 principal figures
LinkedIn has biographical information on six individuals listed as principals in Latitude Liquids: Michael McGovern Jr., Hunter Mobley, Eduardo Aguirre, Shanterea Martin, Sarah Courtright, and Mike Ruffing.
• McGovern wrote that he has been Latitude’s executive director of operations since January 2022 and resides in Bentonville, Arkansas.
His bio lists his other titles as “CEC” (certified executive chef) and “CHE” (certified hospitality educator). He wrote that he has “over 28 years of culinary experience in almost every facet of the food industry.” He claims to have graduated “on the Dean’s List” from The Culinary Institute of America, in New York.
McGovern’s LinkedIn profile also lists him as director of operations for Lonahte Holdings for two years, from April 2020 to March 2022.
• Ruffing is identified on LinkedIn as a co-founder of Latitude Liquids. He listed his address as “United States.”
His profile describes him as “serial entrepreneur, Professional Something, and always looking for our next venture.” He says his skills include business, management, and marketing.
Ruffing wrote that he was a co-founder in 2020 of Lonahte Holdings, which “provides our clients access to the highest quality products available by collaborating with best-in-class facilities and manufacturers of in-demand chemicals.”
He also claims to be a co-founder in 2020 of Lum Lily, “to aid in the global effort to supply quality and affordable items to alleviate market shortages.”
Ruffing also says he was a co-founder of BluPetro.com, “the best way to find what you need in the oil and gas industry.” Blu Petro “allows everyone to access accurate data to complete their jobs quickly.”
Under education he listed only Los Fresnos High School in Texas.
• Courtright wrote that she has been an environmental sales specialist at Latitude Liquids since January 2022.
Two months ago she posted on LinkedIn, “I have 30,000-plus gallons of ethanol for sale in Texas and ready to be picked up asap! ***great price***.”
She claims she earned an MBA degree from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas in Austin and lives in the Longview-Marshall area.
Courtright wrote that she is “skilled in business planning, operations management, freight, Microsoft Word, and sales.” Other skills she listed include public relations, conflict resolution, business planning, freight communication, and business analysis.
• Mobley, of Kerrville, Texas, wrote on LinkedIn that he has been with Latitude Liquids full-time for almost a year and a half and has been “vital in helping build relationships and assets for DataFlow LLC, our data company based in Bentonville, Arkansas.”
When the coronavirus pandemic “began spreading worldwide, our team felt we needed to do something to help so we saw an opportunity in the ethanol business,” Mobley wrote. “We started supplying ethanol nationwide to assist in [the] manufacture of hand sanitizer, which was in such high demand” that they “had to find a way to recycle and dispose of the surplus…”
Latitude Liquids “solves that problem in the most eco-friendly process we have learned along the way.”
Mobley says he has an MBA degree from the McCombs School of Business at UTA. He wrote that his skills include supply chain management, sales management, and “deal closure.”
• Aguirre bills himself as Latitude’s vice president of sales and marketing and was the co-owner of Data Flow Info LLC for almost three years. Data Flow Info “is a one-stop solution for B2B leads,” he wrote. “We generate B2B leads for various industries within the U.S. territory.”
He also said he was a sales manager for Lum Lily for 17 months and was a lead generator for Lonahte Holdings. “This is a distribution and marketing company that has relationships with multiple ethanol plants,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
Aguirre said he has “10+ years of sales experience” and is a sales representative “with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing, technology and advertising industry.” Aguirre claims he is skilled in technical support, sales, customer satisfaction, training, supervising and account management.
He said he received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Isabel Herrera de Obaldía Professional School in Panama in 2006, and a degree from Universidad Nacional de Panama in 2010, in maritime business administration, business administration and management.
• Martin says she has been employed as a sales specialist with Latitude Liquids since July 2022, and before that she worked for Jackson Hewitt Tax Service for six years.
She said she is a graduate of Macon State College and earned a bachelor’s degree in public administration and management. She said she is from Union City, Georgia, and lives in Atlanta.
“I have several years in the finance/tax industry,” Martin wrote in her profile on LinkedIn. “I’m currently in the transportation business as an independent nationwide dispatcher looking to network with people from all walks of life, whether it’s career wise, travel wise or making connections for any various reasons.”
She also said she has been a self-employed independent dispatcher for almost three and a half years.
Latitude Liquids’ sanitizer storage site caught fire twice
The bankruptcy court in Laredo approved 4e Brands Northamerica’s request for permission to begin disposing of its “inventory” of worthless hand sanitizer in June 2022. The company hired Latitude Liquids to transport and destroy its inventory of 7,402 pallets of product.
As of Sept. 30, 2022, 4e had sent approximately 2,900 pallets of hand sanitizer to Latitude Liquids for destruction in Texas and at an unidentified site Oklahoma.
A week later officers with the Wheeler County (Texas) Sheriff’s Department contacted the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality “to raise concerns” about shipments of hand sanitizer that were stored at an unimproved site near Shamrock, Texas.
Shamrock is in Wheeler County, at the eastern edge of the Texas Panhandle. It is 110 miles east of Amarillo and 188 miles west of Oklahoma City, off of Interstate 40.
TCEQ officials inspected the rural site four times in October and observed “conditions that created an imminent risk to human health, safety, and the environment…”
Latitude Liquids was not permitted to handle a hazardous substance, the court was informed. Hand sanitizer is considered a hazardous material because it is toxic, can contaminate groundwater, and is “extremely ignitable” – which was confirmed by the fires at Brannan Bordwine’s three storage locations in Grady County last August and October and the 11-day fire that erupted Oct. 6 in a warehouse at Fort Worth, Texas, where hand sanitizer was stored.
Subsequently, a fire broke out at the Shamrock storage site on Jan. 19 and destroyed approximately 1,350 pallets of hand sanitizer. Almost six weeks later another fire started at the Shamrock site, on Feb. 28, and consumed approximately 40 more pallets of hand sanitizer. Only 10 pallets of sanitizer remain at the Shamrock site, the TCEQ reported on March 14.
The Texas environmental agency learned on Feb. 22 that 4e had pivoted to a new vendor for disposal of its remaining inventory of hand sanitizer.