Firms Accused of Illegally Dumping Chemical Solutions in Sewer System

Two Orange County companies were charged Tuesday with illegally dumping highly concentrated chemical solutions into the sewer system, the toughest enforcement action yet against suspected industrial polluters here.

The County Sanitation Districts of Orange County, in conjunction with the district attorney’s office, filed civil complaints seeking more than $100,000 each in penalties against Aero Tech Plating Inc., a small Anaheim metal-plating firm, and Orange County Electronics Corp., a manufacturer of printed circuit boards in the city of Orange.

Investigation, Surveillance

The actions were taken after months of investigation and surveillance of companies with a history of repeated warnings and “blatant disregard” for discharge requirements, a spokeswoman for the sanitation districts said.

As the first such complaints ever filed by the sewage treatment agency, they also were intended to send a message.

“We think it’s time to start showing the whole industrial community that we are going to start strict enforcement,” spokeswoman Corinne Clawson said.

Clawson promised more such cases as the sewage treatment agency joins in a campaign of increased enforcement against polluters by air, water, wildlife and other environmental agencies.

“It is something we have become very concerned about with the recent closures of approved disposal sites,” she said.

The agency was criticized last fall by a Los Angeles-based environmental group for failing to act against polluters.

Officials for both companies expressed surprise at the allegations, saying they had been working with agency enforcement officials to try to meet waste discharge requirements. If penalties are imposed, both companies will be forced to close, they said.

“They are dealing with us in bad faith,” said Vinod Shah, who described himself as Aero Tech’s operations manager, but who was named as company owner and president in the complaint.

‘Totally Out of the Blue’

“This is devastating; it has totally come out of the blue,” Orange County Electronics President Gokul Agarwalla said. “We have instituted every procedure required to be in compliance. There are other printed circuit board companies who discharge near us. I don’t know why we are being picked on.”

Aero Tech attorney Barry Bisson said the enforcement actions were politically motivated, citing Anaheim Mayor Don Roth’s premature announcement of the complaints during a City Council meeting even as documents were being filed Tuesday morning.

Roth, a candidate for a seat on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, said Tuesday that “indictments” would be filed against unnamed companies as “a signal to industry that ‘thou shalt not dump industrial waste into the county sewers.’ ”

Clawson said Roth was notified of the impending actions as chairman of one of nine member sanitation districts, but was not authorized to make the announcement.

Roth’s announcement came shortly after the council dropped a controversial plan to allow freeway billboard advertising.

$105,000 Penalty Faced

“This man is trying to cause more pollution with billboards than industry ever could with sewage,” Bisson said of Roth, who has said he leaned toward allowing billboards along city freeways. “If he wants publicity, why doesn’t he hire a few billboards?”

Aero Tech faces maximum penalties of $105,000 for allegedly discharging excessive levels of cadmium, chromium and zinc in a highly acidic chemical solution last Oct. 30, according to the complaint filed Tuesday in Orange County Superior Court.

Orange County Electronics faces penalties of up to $117,000 for two alleged incidents. Last Oct. 30, the printed circuit board manufacturer illegally discharged a batch of incompatible chemicals, including copper at concentrations 153 times maximum levels, the complaint said. On Nov. 8, the company illegally discharged an acidic solution containing concentrations of lead 207 times higher than allowable levels and of copper 64 times higher than allowable, according to the complaint.

Agarwalla, president of Orange County Electronics, disputed that, saying the company’s own tests show acceptable concentrations. He said the penalties are unjustified since the company was trying to comply with sanitation district orders.

‘Chronic Noncompliance’

But Clawson said the company has “a chronic history of non-compliance” and has been assessed administrative penalties totaling $5,792. She said the fact that both firms are cooperating with the sewer agency is the only reason it is not revoking their discharge permits altogether.

In the case of Aero Tech, the complaint alleges that concentrations of cadmium discharged Oct. 30 were 530 times greater than allowed; zinc was 308 times greater and chromium levels were 12 times greater.

Shah said the elevated levels were the result of a spill in the plant by an employee who was later fired for violating company policy. He said the complaint came as a surprise because he has tried to work with the agency to meet its demands, including preparing to install a pre-treament system.

Clawson said both firms were told in December that the agency would proceed with the civil complaints. She added that on Tuesday, Aero Tech was found to be discharging sewage with an acid level far in excess of permit limits.

Richard A. von Langen, chief of the agency’s industrial waste division, said the concentrations could pose a serious health hazard to repair crews and serious damage to the sewer line pump works.

Treatment Successful

Of more than 490 industrial companies hooked up to the sanitation districts’ system, 256 fall into the Class One category requiring special permits and treatment facilities for the hazardous chemicals they use. Clawson said that enforcement problems are posed by only about 10% of all the companies.

So far, she said, the agency’s treatment facilities have been able to neutralize the chemicals before they reach the ocean about four miles off Huntington Beach.

Still, over the last year, the agency has doubled the number of inspectors to 12 to increase surprise visits to plants and nighttime monitoring for illegal dumping.

But officials of both companies say the new emphasis on seeking heavy civil penalties will hurt small businesses that are barely breaking even.

“This is going to put us out of business,” Agarwalla said. “As it is, all printed circuit board companies are in economic trouble. This kind of action doesn’t help the industry to continue or keep jobs.”

MP, GUS KELLER / Los Angeles Times