GM Accused of Illegally Dumping Tainted Waste Water : Environment: The auto maker faces up to $28,000 in fines if convicted of disposing 16,900 gallons of contaminated fluid into a flood control channel.

Los Angeles city prosecutors Wednesday accused General Motors of illegally dumping nearly 17,000 gallons of chemically tainted waste water from its idle Van Nuys auto assembly plant into a flood control channel that flows into the Los Angeles River.

General Motors executives could not be reached for comment.

The three-count complaint by the city attorney’s office alleges that the river was polluted after workers drained caustic waste from the plant’s cooling towers Jan. 27.

Prosecutors said the GM workers were preparing to disassemble the two cooling towers and opened the valves to drain the fluid--a mixture of water and the corrosion inhibitor Dearborn 547, which contains sodium hydroxide, sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite.

They said the 16,900 gallons of waste fluid flowed over the ground and reached Tujunga Wash, which empties into the Los Angeles River in Studio City. A nearby resident reported seeing a reddish-colored liquid in the wash.

The company faces up to $28,000 in fines and additional penalty assessments if convicted on the misdemeanor charges of violating the State Water Code and Fish and Game Code. Arraignment is scheduled for July 12 in Los Angeles Municipal Court.

Deputy City Atty. Don Kass, who is handling the case, said company officials failed to instruct the workers to contain and properly dispose of the waste fluid.

“Their instructions were merely to empty the cooling towers, and they weren’t given any specific instructions beyond that,” Kass said.

“Really what it boils down to is inadequate supervision.”

Kass said that GM later cleaned up standing pools of waste liquid in the wash, and that there was no evidence of harm to birds or other wildlife.

GM manufactured Chevrolet Camaros and Pontiac Firebirds at the plant at 8000 Van Nuys Blvd., but ceased production there in August.