D.A. Cracks Down on Illegal Toxic Waste Dumping

Promising to “make an example” of illegal dumpers, Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner announced Friday the filing of criminal charges against six companies and five people accused of illegally sending hazardous materials to Los Angeles County landfills.

Those charged Friday ranged from small businessmen, such as the owners of cleaning and roofing companies, to a subsidiary of the giant Northrop Corp. The hazardous waste ranged from carcinogenic chemicals to cigarette lighters. Penalties could include fines of up to $250,000 and jail terms of up to four years and eight months.

The charges stem from five incidents at the Puente Hills landfill near Whittier and one at the Scholl Canyon landfill in Glendale in the past year. Neither dump is open to hazardous waste. The nearest hazardous waste dumps are in Santa Barbara and Kings counties.

Speaking next to a huge pile of trash at the Puente Hills landfill, Reiner said it is impossible to detect all the hazardous waste that might be concealed in the 1,500 to 2,000 trucks that dump trash at Puente Hills daily.

Hidden Items

“The point we want to make is that we are going to make an example of those we catch,” Reiner said. “If somebody tries to bring in what appears to be a lawful load of ordinary trash, and hidden under that load are toxics and hazardous waste . . . we are going to be filing criminal charges and they are going to go to jail.”

Misdemeanor charges were filed against Northrop Worldwide Aircraft Services, Inc. of Huntington Beach and its district coordinator, Antonio Casasaya Garmendia, for allegedly dumping 21,000 butane cigarette lighters at the Scholl Canyon landfill in April.

John Lynch, the deputy district attorney in charge of the environmental crimes division, said a bulldozer ran over the lighters, igniting a flash fire. No one was injured.

Felony charges were filed against Goodwill Disposal Co. of Los Angeles and its owner, Richard Agajanian, and Gray Trucking Co. of Vernon and its president, Alan Phillips, over the disposal of 60 drums of chemicals, including toluene, a carcinogen. If convicted, Phillips and Agajanian could be sentenced to more than three years in prison.

Phillips could not be reached for comment, but Agajanian said, “It’s a bunch of nonsense.” He said his company did not know there was hazardous waste in the load it hauled to the dump.

Explosive Acid

Biomedical Resources Corp. of Santa Fe Springs and Multiple Medical Management of Monrovia face felony charges involving the transportation and dumping of two ounces of highly explosive picric acid waste.

One felony and two misdemeanor counts were filed against Kevin John Bush, a Bellflower roofing contractor, over the disposal of several hundred gallons of flammable solvents and paint sludges. If convicted, Bush would face up to $250,000 in fines and four years and eight months in prison.

Others charged Friday are Palley Supply Co. of Los Angeles, accused of felony counts involving the transport and disposal of sodium hydroxide and calcium hydride, and Randolph Gonzales, owner of a Montebello cleaning company, accused of misdemeanor violations involving the dumping of hydroflouric acid.

Both Puente Hills and Scholl Canyon landfills are operated by the county Sanitation Districts. Steve Maguin, who heads the districts’ solid waste department, said only a small amount of trash entering the dumps is hazardous.

Reiner said hazardous waste can endanger the health and safety of dump workers and harm future generations by seeping into groundwater.