Waste Violations to Cost Talley Owner $200,000 : Pollution: Teleflex will pay fines for spills and other infractions from before and during aircraft plant’s 1989 demolition.

The owners of the former Talley Corp. aircraft plant in Newbury Park agreed Friday to pay $200,000 in fines and investigative costs for hazardous-waste violations.

Teleflex Control Systems Inc., which purchased Talley in 1986, will pay the fines as part of a court order obtained by the Ventura County district attorney’s office.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael D. Schwartz said the agreement clears up violations that occurred before and during the plant’s demolition in 1989.

With a distinctive sign showing a rocket orbiting the Earth, the Talley plant was a landmark for nearly 40 years for motorists crossing the Conejo Grade on the Ventura Freeway. Two years ago, Teleflex moved Talley’s operations to an Oxnard site that currently employs about 250 people.

Many of the violations occurred during the relocation of equipment and the demolition of buildings at the Newbury Park site, said Susan Salinas, Teleflex’s director of safety and environmental affairs.

Hazardous materials such as oil and solvents leaked from some equipment, she said. In addition, she said, some hazardous materials that had been used in manufacturing were improperly stored or transported during the relocation.

Schwartz said some violations also occurred during the three years before the plant was closed. For example, he said the company was cited in 1985 for having open containers of hazardous materials and for failing to label containers properly.

In 1987, it was cited for monitoring and record-keeping violations, and the next year it was faulted for having deficient contingency plans governing hazardous materials, he said.

The case took years to resolve because several agencies, including the state Department of Health Services and the California Environmental Protection Agency, were involved in the discussions, Schwartz said.

The agreement, contained in an injunction signed Friday by Superior Court Judge Edwin M. Osborne, also requires Teleflex to obey all environmental laws at its Oxnard facility. Salinas said that plant has a good compliance history “as a result of some lessons learned, and new policies and procedures.”

The injunction also demands that the company continue its efforts to restore ground water that was contaminated by leaking waste ponds at the Newbury Park site.

Although the ponds were closed eight years ago, state health officials in March reported an increase in two toxic contaminants, chromium and trichloroethylene (TCE), which causes cancer. One test well found 10,000 parts per billion of TCE, 2,000 times the amount allowed in drinking water.