TOP AIR POLLUTION PENALTIES

The information for this listing was unavailable for several months.

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 May: COMPANY: Ascon Properties Inc., Huntington Beach TYPE OF BUSINESS: Hazardous waste firm PENALTY: $25,000 VIOLATION: Failure to control a resin-type odor from an open pit on a landfill COMPANY: Imperial Pipe & Supply Co., Los Angeles TYPE OF BUSINESS: Spray painting facility PENALTY: $6,500 VIOLATION: Operating spray painting guns without a permit COMPANY: G & M Oil Inc., Huntington Beach TYPE OF BUSINESS: Gasoline service stations operator PENALTY: $5,450 VIOLATION: Excessive hydrocarbons due to failure to maintain vapor recovery equipment at its Banning site and failure to maintain a tank at its Seal Beach site COMPANY: Lockheed Air Terminal Inc., Sun Valley TYPE OF BUSINESS: Air terminal operations firm PENALTY: $5,000 VIOLATION: Altering jet fueling equipment without a permit and leaking aircraft fuel from faulty equipment COMPANY: Mobil Oil Corp., Torrance TYPE OF BUSINESS: Oil refinery PENALTY: $5,000 VIOLATION: Failure to comply with emissions monitor requirements at its sulfur plant COMPANY: Ciba Geigy Corp., Anaheim TYPE OF BUSINESS: Aerospace materials manufacturer PENALTY: $3,500 VIOLATION: Excessive hydrocarbons from spray painting booth COMPANY: Beachport, Anaheim TYPE OF BUSINESS: Spa manufacturer PENALTY: $2,600 VIOLATION: Failure to maintain records for a spray painting booth COMPANY: Louis B. Dorfman, Costa Mesa TYPE OF BUSINESS: An individual PENALTY: $2,100 VIOLATION: Operating a spray painting booth contrary to permit conditions COMPANY: J.D. Bertolini Industries Inc., Compton TYPE OF BUSINESS: Container manufacturer PENALTY: $1,400 VIOLATION: Spray painting in the open air; failure to use a closed container for cleaning spray painting equipment COMPANY: California Carbon Co. Inc., Wilmington TYPE OF BUSINESS: Carbon manufacturer PENALTY: $1,400 VIOLATION: Excessive particulate emissions from a furnace