Arcadia : Firm Fined for Dumping
A federal judge has ordered a national construction company to pay the Arcadia Redevelopment Agency for removal of contaminated soil at the firm’s former branch.
The agency bought the site at 301 E. Santa Clara St. in September, 1986, when Kiewit Pacific Co. moved its offices to Santa Fe Springs. About 50 crushed gallon drums, some with traces of a cement curing compound, were discovered in March, 1989, when the agency began excavating the five-acre site for development.
The May 21 ruling by Judge Manuel Real comes on the heels of a Superior Court decision in March fining Kiewit $50,000 for the illegal burial. In that criminal case, Judge William Klausner placed Kiewit on a year’s probation and ordered the Nebraska-based firm to pay the Redevelopment Agency $12,000 toward removing the contaminated soil.
Agency officials estimate that cleanup costs will add up to more than $500,000, and they say the agency has lost about $1 million because it has been unable to use the property. The agency is seeking punitive damages of $10 million in a pending civil suit.
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