Chickasha businessman and property owner Brannan Bordwine pleaded guilty to a felony crime arising from the improper disposal of tons of recalled hand sanitizer classified as hazardous waste, and is scheduled to be sentenced July 31 in Oklahoma City’s Western District federal court.
“In order to be effective for its intended use, hand sanitizer must contain at least 60% alcohol by volume,” the state Department of Environmental Quality wrote in a “consent order” Bordwine and the agency signed on March 27.
Brannan Bordwine and Bordwine Development company, which he owns, “do not currently have, nor have they ever had, a permit to store, treat, or dispose of hazardous waste,” the consent order points out.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “classifies hand sanitizer, when discarded, as a hazardous waste due to the characteristic of ignitability...”
Bordwine accepted sanitizer under contract for disposal at three sites in Grady County: 1102 Pikes Peak Road in Chickasha, Bordwine Development’s principal headquarters; 1003 Quail Lane in Ninnekah, the site formerly occupied by H&B Machine and Manufacturing; and the former Chickasha Manufacturing building at 5501 S.
Fourth Street (U.S. Highway 81 and State Highway 19), which Bordwine leased from Blessed Chickasha Collective.
The sanitizer was tested and found to have a “flashpoint” at or below 140 degrees Fahrenheit, the DEQ wrote, “thus exhibiting the characteristic of ignitable hazardous waste.”
Some of the hand sanitizer Bordwine buried at a site in Chickasha “had a flashpoint ranging from 66.2 degrees F to 71.6 degrees F, and “therefore exhibited the characteristic of ignitability and was a hazardous waste,” the federal charge filed June 9 stated.
Seven fires erupted between Aug. 7, 2022, and Nov. 3, 2024, at the locations where Bordwine stored and/or disposed of hand sanitizer in Grady County. The first fire was so intense that the cast-iron lids on two manholes were blown off and the municipal sanitary sewer briefly caught fire from sanitizer that flowed into the line, state and local fire officials reported.
The DEQ consent order supersedes an administrative compliance order issued against Bordwine - along with a record $6.65 million administrative fine imposed against him on Aug. 22, 2022 - by former DEQ Executive Director Scott Thompson.
Instead, Bordwine agreed to pay an administrative penalty of $300,000, and made an initial payment of $25,000, DEQ Communications Officer Skylar McElhaney informed Southwest Ledger on July 21.
Additional payments of at least $5,000 per month are due starting on “the first date of the 13th month following the execution of this order” i.e., April 1, 2027.
The federal charge against Bordwine relates that Congress enacted the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to protect human health and the environment by requiring the proper and safe management of hazardous waste “from the time it is created until the time it is disposed of, and at all points in between” - also known as “cradle to grave” management.
On Jan. 10, 1985, the EPA authorized the State of Oklahoma to implement the RCRA program, “which includes the authority to issue permits to store, treat, and dispose of hazardous waste...” The RCRA decrees it is illegal to knowingly treat, store, or dispose of any hazardous waste without a permit.
Bordwine buried Bersih sanitizer gel
In July 2020 the manufacturer of Bersih Hand Sanitizer gel issued a recall because of potential methanol contamination. Methanol is a toxic alcohol that is used industrially as a solvent, pesticide, and alternative fuel source.
“In or around October 2021” several truckloads of Bersih recalled hand sanitizer were delivered to the Pikes Peak Road site owned by Bordwine.
In late November 2021 Bordwine Development used heavy equipment and machinery to “transport and dump pallets of the recalled hand sanitizer into a burial pit in the northeast corner of the Pikes Peak facility,” the federal government alleged. While burying the product, several of the bottles spilled and leaked into the ground. Bordwine “then filled the burial pit with dirt and other materials.”
Because Bordwine pleaded guilty to the single felony charge, the U.S. Attorney’s Office “will not further prosecute” Bordwine “for any crimes related to [his] participation in transporting, storing, and disposing of hand sanitizer during the period from 2021 through 2023,” the plea agreement stipulates.
In his plea agreement, Brannan Bordwine admitted disposing of hazardous waste even though Bordwine Development “did not have a permit from the EPA or the State of Oklahoma to store, treat, transport, or dispose of hazardous waste,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles W. Brown noted.
The prosecutor and Bordwine agreed that a fine of “not more than $100,000 is appropriate” in this case.
Bordwine vowed to disclose all assets in which he has “any interest or over which” he exercises control, directly or indirectly. He also authorized the U.S. Attorney’s Office to obtain a credit report on him in order to evaluate his “ability to satisfy any financial obligations imposed by the Court.”
Bordwine waived the right to appeal his guilty plea “and any other aspect” of his conviction, and waived the right to appeal his sentence “and the manner in which the sentence is determined...”
He also renounced his right to challenge or move to modify his conviction or sentence “except with respect to claims of ineffective assistance of counsel.” Bordwine has been represented by Oklahoma City attorney Peter Scimeca.
Bordwine also agreed to “properly dispose” of all expired and/or contaminated hand sanitizer “located at any property owned by Bordwine Development Inc.” or by Bordwine himself. Disposal “shall be in accordance with DEQ agreements and/or orders for cleanup...”
In the aftermath of the seven fires at his facilities, approximately 25 totes and 80 pallets of hand sanitizer remained on the Pikes Peak property, the DEQ reported on July 18,2025.
Bordwine agreed to complete at least 50% of the cleanup and disposal within six months of his guilty plea, which he signed on June 9, 2025.
At a minimum, “this shall consist of removing all buried bottled hand sanitizer and preparing it for transportation to a facility permitted to dispose of hazardous waste” under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act “or a state equivalent program.”
Moreover, at all times prior to removal of all expired and/ or contaminated hand sanitizer from Bordwine’s properties, he must maintain “a perimeter of fencing along the boundaries of the hand sanitizer” to prevent people from entering the area.