Poison Gas Peril in Polluted Sewers Told

Prosecutors consider All Valley Plating Co. one of the worst polluters they have ever encountered, allegedly dumping into Los Angeles sewers toxic materials that can produce the same poison gas used for executions.

“Not only does this type of dumping pose a menace to sewer workers and the general public, but the cumulative effect can be devastating to the sewer system and our ground water supply,” City Atty. James Hahn said.

“These wastes literally eat away at the sewer system itself.”

Hahn’s office recently filed a 130-count misdemeanor complaint against the president of the Sun Valley firm, Lawrence R. Horton, 66, and his son, Scott L. Horton, 34, a company vice president.

Cyanide, Acids, Caustics

The bulk of the charges involve the alleged illegal disposal into the city sewer system of hazardous and industrial wastes such as free cyanide, cancer-causing heavy metals, acids and caustics.

“The mixture (of free cyanide and acids) can produce hydrogen cyanide, which is the poison gas used for executions,” Hahn said. Hydrogen cyanide, he said, can pose a deadly threat to sewer workers and even the public if fumes leak from the sewer.

The Hortons are also charged with the illegal storage of hazardous wastes at the All Valley plant at 11321 Goss St., which plates component parts for a number of aerospace companies.

Hahn called the case “one of the worst we’ve seen,” explaining that investigators monitored “almost continuous illegal dumping of extremely dangerous materials into the sewer system” until the city Environmental Strike Force raided the facility last June 3.

‘A Lot of Dangerous Materials’

“When you consider that the plant was using more than 6,000 gallons of water a day and that the illegal dumping was going on for up to eight hours at a time, it adds up to a lot of dangerous materials going into the sewer system,” Hahn noted.

The Hortons are charged with 26 violations of a state Health and Safety Code section that prohibits the illegal disposal of hazardous wastes, 90 violations of a city law that prohibits the unauthorized disposal of industrial wastes and 14 violations of a state law that prohibits the illegal storage of hazardous wastes.

If convicted, the defendants could be sentenced to county jail for at least one year and fined tens of thousands of dollars. They are scheduled to be arraigned May 21.

Their attorney, David Bermann, was out of town and unavailable for comment.

Cited Twice in 1985

All Valley was cited by the Bureau of Sanitation twice in 1985 for illegal levels of hazardous wastes, Hahn said.

Investigators then installed monitoring devices in the sewer upstream and downstream from the plant in May, 1986, to determine if the company was complying with the notices of violation, Deputy City Atty. Steve Tekosky said.

The investigators subsequently recorded further alleged illegal dumping and that evidence enabled Hahn to obtain a search warrant used by the Strike Force last June 3 to raid the All Valley facility.

Once inside the plant, the Strike Force--comprised of personnel from the City Attorney’s Office, the Bureau of Sanitation, the county Health Department and the Los Angeles Police Department--discovered other alleged violations.