Officials Avoid Charges : GM Agrees to $11,900 Fines for Plant Odors

General Motors on Monday pleaded no contest to seven misdemeanor violations of air-quality rules at its Van Nuys assembly plant and agreed to pay $11,900 in fines and penalties.

In return for the auto maker’s plea in Los Angeles Municipal Court, city prosecutors agreed to dismiss misdemeanor charges against three company officials.

Under the plea bargain, GM agreed to pay the maximum fine of $1,000 and a penalty assessment of $700 for each of the seven counts stemming from air-quality violations in August and September of 1985.

Still pending against the Van Nuys plant are 45 civil citations for excessive odors that are punishable by penalties of up to $210,000. Lawyers for GM and the South Coast Air Quality Management District are discussing a possible settlement of those cases, according to district officials.

Deputy City Atty. Gwendolyn Irby said that GM, by its plea, “has accepted complete and total responsibility” for the criminal violations.

Plant Manager Pleased

“Needless to say, I think it’s terrific,” Van Nuys plant manager Ernie D. Schaefer said of the plea bargain. Schaefer, who had been charged with the same seven counts as the company and faced six months in jail on each count if convicted, said city prosecutors would have been unable to prove criminal intent.

“When they are willing to take this kind of plea, it indicates that something is lacking in their case,” Schaefer said.

The charges stemmed from seven violation notices issued to GM by AQMD inspectors.

Four notices accused the company of using paints containing excessive levels of volatile solvents, which readily evaporate and contribute to ozone, the irritating gas that is the main component of smog.

Two citations alleged violations of an air-district rule limiting the density and duration of visible smoke. The other count accused GM of painting cars on a day when an incinerator used to destroy paint vapors was out of service.

Plant engineering director Dennis Heinemann and environmental engineer Larry Breeding each had been charged with a single count.

The violations were discovered by coincidence as inspectors investigated odor problems stemming from GM’s conversion to a new auto-painting process in August, 1985, district officials said.

The new painting system, known as “base coat/clear coat,” imparts a lustrous shine but is smellier than other painting methods.

In the weeks after the conversion, the air district received numerous complaints from neighbors about sickening smells from the plant at 8000 Van Nuys Blvd.

The city attorney eventually decided not to file criminal charges for the alleged odor violations, referring that part of the case back to the air district.

GM officials say they have spent more than $17 million to correct odor problems at the Van Nuys plant.