San Diego
Two executives of a metals treatment firm and the company itself pleaded no contest Friday to felony charges that they dumped 15,000 gallons of a caustic chemical into Chollas Creek.
California Creative Dynamics could face a maximum fine of $50,000, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Duane Shinnick. The firm’s president, Tremaine Gearhart, 55, and vice president, Robert Gloede, 52, could also be fined $50,000 each.
Additionally, the executives could receive three years in state prison, Shinnick said, or in County Jail.
The April 3 discharge occurred when a caustic solution containing aluminum got into a storm drain that led to Chollas Creek, Shinnick said.
The felony prosecution of the firm and employees is the first such case locally. The state Legislature made such offenses felonies instead of misdemeanors last year, the prosecutor said.
San Diego Municipal Judge H. Ronald Domnitz dismissed five other similar counts from earlier spills. Sentencing was set for Dec. 11.
A separate agency, the state Regional Water Quality Control Board, fined the firm $11,000 last month.
Shinnick said the creek has since been cleaned up and no health danger remains. The firm processes aluminium aircraft parts.
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