Illegal Dumping of Toxic Waste Draws 60-Day Term
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Friday ordered a construction company official from Newport Beach to spend 60 days in jail and pay a $5,000 fine for illegally transporting and disposing of hazardous wastes during the 1988 demolition of an Atwater Village pottery factory.
Al Sesar was convicted in October of a felony hazardous waste violation after cancer-causing asbestos was released into the air during its unauthorized removal from the defunct Franciscan Ceramics plant. Sesar, who authorities said arranged to have the hazardous materials hauled away, was also placed on three years’ probation.
Though jail sentences are still unusual in hazardous waste cases, they are increasingly being sought by prosecutors because, “it puts a little more teeth into the environmental laws,” spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said.
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