2 Accused of Dumping Tons of Asbestos

The owner of an asphalt paving company was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of illegally storing, transporting and dumping 4 tons of asbestos--one of the largest dumping incidents in the state involving the known carcinogen, fire officials said.

Henry W. Sprague III, 44, of Long Beach was arrested at his company, Olympic Asphalt, at 13832 Newhope St. in Garden Grove. His firm allegedly dumped the highly concentrated asbestos at the Port of Long Beach, Division Fire Chief Jerry Halberstadt said.

A company employee, Gus Gardner, 53, of Hemet, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to illegally dump asbestos, fire officials said. Neither Sprague nor Gardner could be reached for comment.

Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Gerald Gordon Johnston said the incident posed special hazards because the asbestos was 98% pure. At that concentration, the material is capable of breaking into microscopic fibers, “when it’s most dangerous,” Johnston said.

Asbestos is a leading environmental cause of lung cancer. Most evidence involves studies of heavily exposed workers, many of whom did not contract the disease until two decades after initial exposure. But there have been documented cases of asbestos-related cancer among people whose exposure appears to have been brief or light, raising fears among some experts that no level of exposure is without some risk.

Asbestos is a mineral fiber that was used widely in construction, shipbuilding and industry for decades because of its fireproofing and insulating properties. In road paving, asbestos is an asphalt filler or binder for slurry coats and asphalting of parking lots and streets, Halberstadt said.

Halberstadt said a three-month investigation of Olympic Asphalt revealed that the asbestos was stored and transported in sacks, which he said “is not safe,” although legal.

Some of the sacks ripped open and created a potential danger to the public, Halberstadt said. Asbestos must be disposed at a designated hazardous materials dump site, he said.

The Garden Grove Fire Department, the Orange County Hazardous Materials Strike Force and the Los Angeles County Hazardous Strike Force conducted the investigation.

Johnston said he plans to file felony charges against Sprague, but has not yet decided whether Gardner will also face felony charges.