VENTURA : 2 Plead No Contest to Waste Charges
Two Ventura men have pleaded no contest to charges of illegally transporting and storing hazardous waste.
Ventura residents Howard B. Nicholls, 42, and Thomas D. Richardson, 38, entered the pleas Friday, neither admitting nor denying the charges.
They were arrested Oct. 26 after undercover investigators from the district attorney’s office answered a newspaper ad that said, “Hazardous Waste Transport and Cleanup--Reasonable.” Investigators said they arranged to have the men dispose of two 55-gallon drums of a flammable organic compound.
Richardson and two workers loaded the drums into a pickup at a Moorpark warehouse and drove to a storage yard in Ventura, where Nicholls had arranged to have them disposed of, investigators said. The men had no licenses to transport or store hazardous waste, Deputy Dist. Atty. Linda S. Groberg said after their November arraignment.
Nicholls and Richardson will be sentenced March 1 in Ventura County Superior Court. Both could serve a maximum of three years in prison and face fines of up to $100,000.
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