D.A. Accuses Whittier, 4 Officials of Illegally Dumping Toxic Wastes

In a rare move by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, the City of Whittier and four of its top officials were charged Thursday with the unlawful dumping of hazardous materials--paint wastes and thinners--into a dirt pit in the city’s maintenance yard.

Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner said it is unusual for his office to file such charges since a city “should be a model of propriety for the handling of toxic and hazardous chemicals.”

Reiner said he decided to prosecute because Whittier officials knew about the dumping at the city yard at 12016 E. Hadley Ave. for years and did nothing to stop it.

“I believe that government is in the same position as any individual. And the public is at risk (by the illegal dumping),” Reiner said, even though tests of water wells in the area showed no sign of contamination from the dumping.

According to the criminal complaint, Whittier city employees dumped countless gallons of the wastes into the pit, allowing potentially dangerous levels of heavy metals and solvents to seep into the soil.

The dumping, Reiner added, had been encouraged by several “generations” of Whittier municipal administrators.

County health investigators, alerted by an informant, inspected the yard Feb. 6 and halted the dumping. A cleanup of the yard has been ordered, health officials said.

The city was charged with a felony count of unlawfully disposing of hazardous wastes. A conviction carries a maximum fine of $50,000 for each day of the alleged violations and covers a period of three years.

Charged with a misdemeanor count, covering the same conduct, were Louis Sandoval, 51, Whittier’s director of public services; Vergil Haight, 60, city director of public works; Ralph Williams, 60, the city’s street and maintenance superintendent, and David Bradbury, 56, the mechanical superintendent. They refused comment.

In addition to fines they could be liable for, the four face a possible sentence of one year in jail if convicted. Reiner said the four were not charged with a felony because they were not responsible for the initial dumping at the city yard.

Robert Flandrick, a Los Angeles attorney representing the city and the four officials in the case, could not be reached for comment.

Arraignment was set for Oct. 2 in Los Angeles Municipal Court.