The Region : Firm Found Guilty of Dumping Toxics

A Pennsylvania firm that buried toxic materials at a plant in Santa Fe Springs was found guilty in federal court in Los Angeles of illegally disposing of hazardous waste. Assistant U.S. Atty. Janet L. Goldstein said employees of Neville Chemical Co. of Pittsburgh illegally dumped more than 20 large drums of toxic waste into a pit, then paved it over in 1981. She said the material, including orthodichlorobenzene, a chemical that can damage the liver and central nervous system of humans, remained underground for 4 1/2 years, until a two-day search of the plant by the FBI and the Environmental Protection Agency. U.S. Atty. Robert C. Bonner said it was the first joint investigation by the FBI and EPA in the seven-county Central District of California and the first conviction of a company in the region under federal hazardous waste laws. Sentencing is set for Nov. 10 by U.S. District Judge William J. Rea.