Transtechnology CEO to Retire Next Year

Transtechnology Corp., a Sherman Oaks aerospace firm, said President and Chief Executive Dan McBride will retire at the first of next year.

McBride, a 20-year company veteran who announced his plans before a shareholders meeting in New York, said he will recommend that current Executive Vice President Ralph E. Hutchins serve as his replacement.

McBride’s announcement comes as Transtechnology is being blamed for deaths linked to toxic chemicals dumped at two plants of its Space Ordnance Systems subsidiary in the Santa Clarita Valley. A family living near one of the plants in Sand Canyon claims that toxics from the site were responsible for the death of four family members since 1983.

In 1986, company officials pleaded guilty to 10 misdemeanor counts of violating hazardous waste laws after health and law enforcement agencies raided SOS and found widespread evidence of illegal dumping and storage of solvents and chemicals.

Company officials say state and county authorities have not found pollutants in supplies of drinking water.