Local News in Brief : Firm Fined in Toxic Spill That Hit Youths
A Compton electroplating company has been fined $10,250 for illegally transporting hazardous waste in a truck that splashed a caustic solution on 25 Newhall schoolchildren in January.
Newhall Municipal Judge Floyd V. Baxter also placed Roy Axford of Rolling Hills, president of Morrell Electroplating, on three years’ probation. Axford, who had been charged with three misdemeanor counts of illegal transportation of hazardous waste, failure to have a manifest and using a non-certified vehicle, pleaded no contest to the illegal transportation charge.
The accident occurred when a tractor-trailer truck traveling south on Sierra Highway swerved to avoid hitting a school bus from Newhall Elementary School. A 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.
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