Discount chain 99 Cents Only Stores of Commerce is opening up its register to pay out more than $2.3 million in penalties to settle a hazardous waste disposal suit brought by more than two dozen county district attorneys and city attorneys throughout the state.

The company was found to have improperly stored, handled and disposed of hazardous and pharmaceutical waste products at its 251 stores and distribution centers in the state. Instead of going to authorized disposal sites, that waste went to standard landfills.

The deep-discount chain has now adopted new policies and procedures for the disposal of its hazardous waste, which is now being collected by state-registered haulers and taken to proper disposal facilities.