Containers Unearthed at Agri-Empire Feedlot : Environment: Waste material is being tested to determine if it is toxic. The company says it is not dangerous.

Hazardous materials teams combing a 100-acre cattle feedlot outside of San Jacinto began unearthing dozens of metal and plastic containers Friday, suggesting that a large amount of toxic waste could be buried at the site, according to sources close to the investigation.

“They’re bringing all kinds of stuff out,” said one official, who asked not to be identified. “They’re very concerned about contamination.”

A spokesman for Agri-Empire Corp., which owns the feedlot, disputed the comments of that official and others who are monitoring the search. The company spokesman said no hazardous materials are buried at the site and that whatever is being unearthed is not dangerous. Reporters were not allowed at the site.

The digging at the lot began Tuesday, after FBI agents and California Highway Patrol officers served search warrants at the headquarters of Agri-Empire and two other locations owned by the company, including the feedlot. Investigators said informants have accused Agri-Empire employees of burying from 6,000 to 7,000 used five-gallon containers of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides at the feedlot.

The burial of those chemicals occurred in 1986 and 1987, informants allegedly have told investigators.

Agri-Empire owns thousands of acres of farmland in California, Oregon, Montana and Idaho, and is the nation’s largest family-owned potato producer. The company also owns thousands of head of cattle, and about 900 of those animals were kept on the lot that is under scrutiny.

Agri-Empire’s co-owner, former drag-race champion Larry Minor, has denied any wrongdoing. Xavier Hermosillo, a spokesman for the company, said Friday that the search had not uncovered any evidence of toxic contamination.

“There’s debris at the site, but it’s not coming out of the ground,” Hermosillo said. “It’s some empty feed bags. It’s nothing dangerous.”

The material was being tested at the site, but final analysis will be done in laboratories. Scientists tracking the progress of the digs said that it will be at least a week before officials know whether the material being unearthed is contaminated and, if so, whether it has tainted the feedlot and neighboring water supply.

Officials with the California Environmental Protection Agency were at the feedlot during the digging but declined to comment. An agency spokesman said officials would comment only if they believe that there is an immediate danger to health or safety.

The FBI also declined comment, saying that the search was part of an ongoing investigation.