Brea : 2 Men Plead Innocent in Toxic Dumping Case
Two Brea businessmen pleaded innocent in Orange County Municipal Court Monday to charges that they dumped illegal concentrations of toxic chemicals into the county’s sewer system from their metal plating and finishing company.
Vinod S. Shah, 47, of Fullerton and Narendra Shah, 39, of Yorba Linda were arrested by Brea police last Oct. 29 and accused of discharging as much as 800 times the allowable limit of an array of chemical solutions from S&B; Plating and Metal Finishing.
The firm was closed after the arrests, and the Shahs were charged with 54 violations, including illegal discharges of copper, chromium, zinc and highly acidic solutions; discharging without a valid permit and violating the state Health and Safety Code.
Corinne Clawson, a spokeswoman for the County Sanitation Districts of Orange County, said at the time of the arrests that it was the first case in which the agency had sought criminal charges against a company.
Both men are free on bail. Another hearing was scheduled for March 10 in Orange County Municipal Court in Santa Ana.
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