The New Mexico Environment Department levied heavy fines against a federal waste-storage facility this week, in part because the Idaho National Laboratory sent a barrel containing liquid waste to the site thatwasn't supposed to be there.

The barrel was removed from the U.S. Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M, and sent back to the INL in August.

"The bottom line was there was a mistake made when the drum was chosen to be sent to WIPP," said Brad Bugger, a spokesman with DOE's Idaho operations.

Idaho DOE officials, who oversee the INL, say the mistake happened when the barrel was mislabeled, but they declined to comment further.

The barrel has since returned to Idaho, where it is scheduled to have the liquid removed.

The barrel did not pose a danger to people or the environment while being shipped, said officials with Bechtel BWXT Idaho, the company contracted by the DOE to certify waste shipments from INL to WIPP, in a statement released shortly after the error was noticed.

The New Mexico Environment Department agreed the mistake posed little danger, but said liquid waste in general could negatively impact the site, human health and the environment.

"It was a mistake, but it was a serious mistake," said James Bearzi, chief of hazardous waste for the NMED.

The barrel was sent to WIPP in June. Workers there failed to notice liquid waste inside before burying the barrel -- a violation of a permit with the NMED that bars liquid waste from being buried at WIPP.

It remained underground for nearly two months, until officials at INL realized during an audit they'd mistakenly sent the barrel to the site. WIPP officials dug up the vessel and sent it back to Idaho in August after INL alerted them of the error.

WIPP was fined $110,700 for burying the waste, as well as $885,520 for other, unrelated violations.

The facility has "a history of noncompliance," says the NMED. Between 1998 and 2004, NMED cited WIPP at least eight times.

The Bechtel contractor that made the labeling error has not faced fines from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, but the DOE in Idaho "has taken contract action to ensure appropriate management attention to correct the issues leading up to this event and to prevent recurrence," said Rick Dale, a spokesman for the company.

This is the first time the company has made such a mistake, Dale said. He said the company deals with thousands of barrels a day.