Local News in Brief : SOS, 3 Officials Plead Innocent to 87 Waste-Handling Charges

Space Ordnance Systems and three of its officials pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a year-old complaint accusing them of 87 misdemeanor violations of state and county hazardous-waste laws.

The pleas were entered by defense attorneys in Newhall Municipal Court that represented something of a milestone in a case long delayed by legal maneuvers.

Although the Los Angeles County district attorney filed charges against SOS and company executives Joseph Cabaret, James Smith and Michael Murphy in August, 1984, the arraignment was repeatedly delayed by defense challenges to the adequacy of the complaint. The latest challenge was swept aside late Monday by the state Court of Appeal, setting the stage for Tuesday’s arraignment in Newhall.

Newhall Municipal Judge H. Keith Byram set a Dec. 16 pretrial hearing after SOS lawyer Donald Etra said company consultants would need that long to complete a public attitude study to support a move for a change of venue.

State and county law-enforcement and environmental officials said they uncovered evidence that SOS, which has two plants in the Santa Clarita Valley, had stored and transported hazardous waste without required permits, and had illegally disposed of chemically contaminated waste water by dumping it on the ground or spraying it through sprinklers.