Long Beach firefighter accused of illegally dumping sewage
A Long Beach man and his recreational vehicle storage company in Imperial County were charged Tuesday with illegally disposing sewage and violating federal water laws.
Federal prosecutors in San Diego allege that Kyle Vestermark, a firefighter with the city of Long Beach, and his company, Dunes Edge Storage, dumped sewage from RVs parked at two locations near El Centro over a four-year period, according to an eight-count indictment.
Reached Tuesday evening by telephone, Vestermark declined to comment on the case and referred questions to his attorney, Jeremy Warren.
“The government is wrong about Kyle Vestermark,” Warren said, calling him a dedicated public servant who will defend himself against “baseless” charges. “He has put his life on the line to protect the public every day for the last 18 years. He did absolutely nothing to endanger the public in his side business.”
Vestermark, 46, secured a permit in 2004 for a 10,000-gallon sewage tank at a storage facility in Brawley from the Imperial County Public Health Department. He obtained a second permit in 2005 for his Holtville location.
According to the indictment, the permits did not allow for installing underground leach lines, which typically disperse waste underground. The permits called for another company to pump out sewage from the tanks and transport it to a treatment plant.
But prosecutors contend that at both sites, Vestermark installed underground leach lines in 2005 and 2006, which allegedly sent sewage underground. The lines were removed after Imperial County officials discovered them in 2015, prosecutors said.
Vestermark and his firm were charged with conspiracy to illegally discharge sewage and seven counts of unlawful injection of sewage.
Others involved in RV storage near the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area have been targeted for unlawful sewage dumping in recent years.
In May, Daniel Williams of Arizona admitted to hiding the underground sewage disposal system at Dunes Toy Storage, which is also owned by Vestermark’s company, according to federal prosecutors. He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 5 and faces up to five years in prison.
In 2014, Michael Mamelli Sr. of Newport Beach pleaded guilty to dumping potentially millions of gallons of sewage over four years at his RV storage company in Glamis in Imperial County. Mamelli was sentenced to time served and he and his company were ordered to pay about $60,000 in fines.
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