Firm Fined in Spilling of Caustic Liquid on Children

An electroplating company in Compton has been fined $10,250 for illegally transporting hazardous waste in a truck that splashed a caustic solution on 25 Newhall school children in January.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Anthony G. Patchett said Wednesday that Roy Axford, president of Morrell Electroplating, also was placed on three years probation. Axford, who lives in Rolling Hills, was sentenced Tuesday in Newhall Municipal Court by Judge Floyd V. Baxter.

Axford had been charged with three misdemeanor counts of illegal transportation of hazardous waste, failure to have a manifest and using a non-certified vehicle. In an agreement with prosecutors, Axford pleaded no contest to the illegal transportation charge.

The accident occurred about 3 p.m. Jan. 28 when a tractor-trailer truck traveling south on Sierra Highway swerved onto Placerita Canyon Road to avoid hitting a school bus traveling from Newhall Elementary School.

A large rectangular container slipped off the flatbed truck, splashing a liquid composed primarily of copper and zinc solutions through the windows and onto the children and driver.

The children were taken to five hospitals, where 13 were treated for minor eye and skin irritation. The bus driver, Lorren Kelly, complained that her skin was still irritated by the liquid several weeks after the accident, Patchett said. Neither Kelly nor the children suffered long-term effects, he said.

Patchett said hazardous materials investigators could not determine how and why the liquid was in the container. Axford said the liquid was residue remaining after the container was cleaned.

Axford faced fines up to $100,000, but prosecutors decided not to seek the higher penalties because it was a first offense and because the company had tried to secure the container to the truck correctly.

“They did take some precautions,” Patchett said. “They just didn’t do it properly.”

Other charges are pending against the owner of the truck, Chris Richau of Glendora, and his company, San Boa Construction. Patchett said they are charged with operating an overweight vehicle, having defective brakes on the truck and carrying an unsafe load. Richau and his company are to go to trial Dec. 5 in Newhall Municipal Court.