Rare Fish Imperiled : Trucker Is Charged in Gas Dumping

The district attorney’s office Friday charged a truck driver with dumping gasoline into a storm drain near Acton that empties into the Santa Clarita River, home of an endangered species of fish.

Randy A. Gregg, 39, of Sunnymead, near Riverside, faces one misdemeanor count each under the California penal code, the state health and safety code and the state fish and game code, said Al Albergate, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office.

40 Gallons Allegedly Dumped

On Jan. 11, an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer observed Gregg with his tanker truck pulled off on the shoulder along California 14, Albergate said. According to the charges, Gregg emptied about 40 gallons of gasoline down a drain at the side of the highway.

Gregg reportedly told prosecutors that he had to pour out the gas because the two tanks he was hauling had become unbalanced.

The Santa Clarita River is one of the few remaining habitats for the spined, unarmored stickleback fish, a federally protected species native to Southern California.

According to records at the state Department of Motor Vehicles, Gregg’s driver’s license was suspended Thursday for six months because he had accumulated too many speeding tickets and a drunk-driving charge.

He is scheduled to be arraigned April 12 in Antelope Valley Municipal Court. Prosecution of the case is being handled by Deputy Dist. Atty. Herbert Furutani, Albergate said.