SIMI VALLEY : Owner Sentenced for Waste Dumping
The owner of a Simi Valley auto repair shop who illegally ordered employees to dump hazardous waste in a nearby commercial area has been ordered to serve 30 days in jail and pay more than $25,000 in fines and cleanup costs.
Superior Court Judge Lawrence Storch ordered Roger Douglas, 41, of Simi Valley to serve a 30-day jail sentence and five years on probation. Douglas, who in 1988 ordered employees to dump about 30 small drums of chemical waste from The Body Shop in an undeveloped commercial area nearby, was also ordered to pay a $16,450 fine and restitution of $8,860 to cover cleanup costs.
The business manager of the repair shop, Michael Nicassio, 33, of Simi Valley was sentenced last week by Storch to serve 15 days in jail and pay a fine of $11,500. He was also placed on five years probation.
Both men pleaded guilty in January to illegally transporting hazardous waste.
The two men were responsible for hiding the 15-gallon drums of hazardous waste Jan. 8, 1988, during a routine inspection by the Fire Department and then loading the drums onto a truck two days later. The material was dumped during the early morning hours of Jan. 11 near the Simi Arroyo.
An employee of a nearby auto shop who watched and photographed the drums being loaded onto the truck and driven away notified police of the illegal activity.
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