Abound Solar Inc., the solar-panel maker whose bankruptcy created ripples from Colorado to Washington, D.C., violated state hazardous waste laws by leaving thousands of solar panels containing harmful chemicals in facilities throughout the Front Range.

An inspector for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment found 2,000 pallets of solar panels "deemed unsellable" in a warehouse in Denver, according to a state report.

Panels also were found in a facility in Longmont; other hazardous waste was found in a Fort Collins facility.

The panels contain cadmium, a cancer-causing metal considered hazardous, though officials say there was no immediate public health risk.

"At the time of the inspection these 2,000 pallets of solar panels were deemed unsellable and a viable agreement for reclamation of the solar panels was not evident," the inspector's report says. "Therefore, the department views these 2,000 pallets of solar panels as a characteristic hazardous waste for cadmium."

In all, Abound Solar's bankruptcy trustee estimated that cleanup would cost $2.2 million. The panels must be disposed of at a facility permitted by the state.

Loveland-based Abound Solar