Local News in Brief : Anaheim : Firm Agrees to $40,000 Fine After Fumes Leak
The Stepan Co., a detergent manufacturer, has agreed to pay $40,000 in fines and penalties for a Feb. 4 leak of potentially toxic fumes that sent about 15 nearby residents to the hospital with nausea and respiratory problems, Deputy City Atty. Bruce Bartram said.
“They got the maximum sentence,” said Bartram, noting that it was the second such leak of potentially toxic sulfur trioxide fumes from the plant in two years. “It’s the highest fine that we’ve ever collected for a criminal case.”
The Stepan Co. pleaded no contest to the unlawful release of air contaminants, a misdemeanor, in February. Bartram said $38,000 of the total penalties was levied because the most recent leak violated a three-year “informal probation” imposed in July, 1987, along with a $5,000 fine as a result of the first leak of sulfur trioxide in January, 1987, he said.
The company will remain on informal probation until July, 1990, in accordance with the sentencing from the first case, Bartram said.
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