Local News in Brief : Conviction in Waste Case
A Montebello salvage company owner was found guilty Monday of illegally disposing of hazardous asbestos waste in what Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner said was the first felony conviction in the nation for that crime.
Stanley E. Steves, 60, was found guilty on one felony count each of illegal disposal of hazardous asbestos and illegal disposal of hazardous waste. He was also convicted on two misdemeanor counts of illegal storage of hazardous waste.
Steves faces up to three years in state prison and a fine of $125,000 at sentencing May 19.
Prosecutors said investigators in 1986 found chopped up insulation saturated with asbestos in the ground and in a dumpster at the Montebello site of Steves’ two salvage companies, California Industrial Movers Inc. and Industrial Salvage Corp.
Employees had previously questioned whether it was asbestos they were cutting up, but Steves told them not to worry, prosecutors said. When one employee informed Steves that it was harmful to inhale asbestos, Steves sarcastically told the employee not to breathe, prosecutors said.
Investigators also found 200 containers of waste on a previous company site in Pico Rivera.
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