TOP AIR POLLUTION PENALTIES
The South Coast Air Quality Management District has responsibility to control air pollution in the area. It has the power to seek court-imposed fines against polluters of from $25 to $25,000 a day based on such factors as the extent that emissions exceed legal limits, the potential danger to the public, whether the violation was intentional, accidental or due to negligence and the company’s history of violations. These are the 10 highest penalties paid in January:
COMPANY TYPE OF BUSINESS PENALTY Blair Paving Inc. Pavement $25,000 Anaheim contractor Pacific Rattan Furniture $7,500 Products Inc. manufacturer Los Angeles, Vernon sites Shell Oil Co. oil refinery $7,000 Wilmington, Carson sites Dean Industries Ltd. Food service $6,500 Los Angeles equipment manufacturer Micrometals Inc. Electrical $5,500 Anaheim equipment component manufacturer Drilube Co. Aerospace %5,000 Glendale metal parts finisher Cal-June Corp. Life jacket, life $4,500 North Hollywood saver and buoy Barr Inc. Former vinyl $4,500 Torrance play ball manufacturer, now a defunct subsidiary of Lancaster Colony Corp. of Columbus, Ohio fumes Federal Paper Board Electrical $3,750 Los Angeles cogenerator Ericcson Yachts Boat Builder $3,600 Irvine
COMPANY VIOLATION Blair Paving Inc. Operating a concrete Anaheim batch plant without a permit and emitting visible concrete dust in El Toro Pacific Rattan Emitting excess paint Products Inc. fumes; operating painting Los Angeles, equipment without Vernon sites permits Shell Oil Co. Excessive hydrocarbons Wilmington, Carson from a gasoline storage sites tank Dean Industries Ltd. excess paint Los Angeles fumes Micrometals Inc. Excessive hydrocarbons Anaheim from solvent usage; failure to maintain solvent usage records Drilube Co. Excessive hydrocarbons Glendale failure to keep paint and solvent usage records; public nuisance violation due to odors Cal-June Corp. Emitting excess paint North Hollywood fumes Barr Inc. Emitting excess paint Torrance fumes Federal Paper Board Excessive nitrogen oxide Los Angeles emissions from a turbine Ericcson Yachts Excessive hydrocarbons Irvine
