Vista

A North County Municipal Court judge Monday fined an Oceanside city employee $250 and placed him on probation for two years for using a highly toxic herbicide to kill off seaweed in Oceanside’s small craft harbor. Judge Victor E. Ramirez imposed the sentence on Gerald J. Wolf, Oceanside’s harbor maintenance superintendent, after Wolf’s attorney entered a plea of no contest. The district attorney in April filed one misdemeanor charge of using dangerous substances in public waters against Wolf. In February, the district attorney charged, Wolf dumped a highly toxic herbicide--copper sulfate--into the harbor to kill the seaweed. It was discovered when a state Department of Fish and Game biologist noticed what appeared to be a lack of marine life in the harbor. Copper sulfate is extremely damaging to aquatic animals and plants. Wolf contended that it was the city, not he, that was to blame for any violation of state law.