VENTURA : Fine Levied for Dumping of Waste

A Ventura man was ordered this week to pay about $9,000 for violating the state’s hazardous waste law, according to the district attorney’s office.

Joseph Roy Taylor, 72, pleaded guilty Tuesday to involvement in the illegal disposal of hazardous waste, Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury said Thursday in a prepared statement.

In late 1989, 21 five-gallon buckets of used brake fluid were found dumped in Ventura, the statement said. The fluid was traced to Taylor’s Avenue Wheel Shop in Ventura.

Taylor had paid a former employee $300 to dispose of the waste, according to the statement. The employee, Michael Wayne Glaze, 25, of Ventura told Taylor he would dispose of the brake fluid at another shop in Oxnard. Glaze then dumped the buckets of fluid off the Ventura Freeway near the Rincon area of Ventura.

Under state law, hazardous waste must be disposed of by a registered hauler, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Linda Groberg, who prosecuted the case. The county has no authorized sites for the treatment and storage of hazardous waste, she said.

Although Taylor apparently did not know about the dumping, he is liable for what happened to the waste, Groberg said Thursday.

Municipal Judge John Smiley sentenced Taylor to three years probation. He was also ordered to pay about $9,000 in fines and restitution to the Department of Health Services and the California Department of Transportation.

Glaze was convicted in November and served 90 days in Ventura County Jail. He was also placed on three years probation and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, the statement said.

The case involved a joint investigation of the California Highway Patrol, district attorney’s office, Ventura County Fire Department, Caltrans and the Ventura County Environmental Health Department.