Malibu Rancher, Water Board Settle Dispute Over Buried Trash

A Malibu landowner and the state Regional Water Quality Control Board have agreed to settle a 2-year-old dispute over trash buried on a 325-acre property in Encinal Canyon.

Lester Richman, who has owned the property for more than 30 years, had been fined $120,000 and ordered to clean up an unapproved landfill that contained household trash, records show.

Richman, in turn, sued the state board in Santa Barbara Superior Court. A retired lawyer, Richman lives in Santa Barbara and uses the Malibu property, a working cattle ranch, on weekends and vacations.

An attorney for the water board said last week that the fine was imposed on Richman to “get his attention” because he had refused to cooperate with inspectors.

As part of the settlement agreed to in October, the board dropped the fine and lifted a cleanup order. Richman paid $8,200 as his share of the “cost of investigation” and dropped his lawsuit.

“Hell, I’m 78 years old and retired and didn’t feel like fighting a lawsuit all the rest of my life,” Richman said in an interview after he signed the settlement.

“I didn’t know a big farmer (can’t) bury his waste on his own farm but had to take his waste and bury it on someone else’s farm,” Richman said, referring to permitted landfills.

Asked what he estimated his costs to be for fighting the state board, Richman said: “It costs me time. I wouldn’t undertake this kind of thing for a client for under $100,000.”

Jorge Leon, staff counsel for the Regional Water Quality Control Board, said the board’s fine was imposed because Richman denied inspectors access to his property.

Richman’s Juma Ranch in Encinal Canyon came to the board’s attention in 1990 when an anonymous neighbor filed a complaint. Leon said a “minimal investigation” of the property revealed batteries from large vehicles lying on the soil.

Also found were gas and oil tanks, Leon said. Building materials such as concrete and wood, as well as household garbage, were buried on the property, Leon said, adding that a state permit is required for a landfill.

A cleanup and abatement order was issued, Leon said, which Richman refused to follow. Then the fine was levied.

Richman appealed and, when the board rejected the appeal, he filed suit.

Leon said that, when inspectors visited the site early this year as part of the settlement agreement, no ground water contamination was found. Richman is not allowed to bury any additional waste on the property, Leon said.

Richman, who said he probably has the biggest ranch in the area under individual ownership, runs about 40 head of cattle there today. A caretaker lives on the property, Richman said.

He said the materials found on his farm were “nothing an ordinary farmer doesn’t have.”

Richman filed his lawsuit protesting the board’s actions because he “challenged the whole thing as being irregular and illegal.”

“It was contrary to law and downright hostile,” he said.

Leon said the board’s preference is to work cooperatively with property owners. The heavy fine in Richman’s case occurred, he said, because of the “lack of access and cooperation.”

“In most cases, 98 or 99%, at least we’re given the opportunity to have access to the property,” Leon said. “We had to start escalating in order to get his attention.”