The Region - News from Aug. 14, 1986

The Los Angeles Board of Public Works ordered sanitation workers to sever the sewer connection of Long Chemical Inc., a Hyde Park firm accused of releasing illegal amounts of hazardous materials into the city sewer system. Staff members said recent tests disclosed that the company was dumping excessive amounts of acids and caustics used in the manufacture of industrial and commercial detergents and cleaners. A spokesman for Long Chemical told board members that his company is having trouble paying for the equipment needed to reduce such discharges. “If you don’t have the expertise or money to properly run your business,” Commissioner Ed Avila responded, “perhaps you shouldn’t be in business.”