Local News in Brief : High Tech Firm Fined

A Chatsworth firm that City Atty. James K. Hahn accused of breaking nearly “every environmental law in the book” was ordered Monday to pay $53,134 in fines and restitution after pleading no contest to 10 misdemeanor violations of state and city pollution control laws.

As part of the plea bargain entered in Los Angeles Municipal Court, city prosecutors agreed to dismiss dozens of other charges against Electroplating Technology Inc., and all counts against its president, if an Aug. 29 deadline for paying the fine is met.

Electroplating Technology, a small manufacturer of printed circuit boards, was charged with 203 counts of violating hazardous waste storage and disposal laws, and illegal discharges into city sewers. The complaint covered events between December, 1986, and February, 1987, when the city temporarily cut off the firm’s sewer service due to excessive discharges of acids, caustics and heavy metals, including copper, lead and nickel. Officials said the illegal discharges occurred repeatedly, although the company knew it was under surveillance.