LINCOLN HEIGHTS : Appeal Filed Over Diesel Tank Ruling

A Los Angeles developer and his son convicted of violating an environmental law in connection with a fuel tank believed to be under their property have filed an appeal in Los Angeles Municipal Court.

Arnold Carlson, 69, owner of The Brewery, was convicted Aug. 3 by a jury for failing to abandon or remove an underground tank “in the legally prescribed manner,” said Deputy City Atty. Teresa Lujan.

His 43-year-old son, Richard, who manages the property, was convicted on the same charge.

Los Angeles Municipal Judge Stephen Marcus sentenced Arnold Carlson to 15 days in jail and fined him $150, said Frederick Seymour of Alhambra, attorney for the Carlsons.

Richard Carlson was fined $500, he said.

The 23-acre property at 1920 N. Main St. was a Pabst Blue Ribbon brewery that was converted into artists’ lofts.

About 200 people live there.

City fire inspectors determined last year that the property contained an abandoned underground tank that once stored diesel fuel, and an order for its removal was issued.

City Atty. James K. Hahn said that Arnold Carlson is the first person to be sentenced to jail for violating the 1984 city law, an environmental-safety measure designed to prevent abandoned tanks from leaking pollutants into the soil and ground water.

But Seymour said experts for his clients and the city could not say for certain whether or not the tank exists. Seymour said his clients maintain that the tank was removed years ago.

“The expert we hired and the expert they hired both reached the same conclusion: There was no evidence of a tank present,” Seymour said.

“My clients were convicted on the evidence of the city fire inspector, who looked at the ground and said, ‘There’s a tank here.’ ”

Seymour said the inspector noted two pipes coming up from the ground that were for ventilation and filling, a no-smoking sign on a nearby wall, and an electrical switch that the inspector had said was a cutoff switch for the tank.

“He didn’t test anything, didn’t do any digging or bring in radar equipment,” Seymour said.

Lujan said she asked Judge Marcus to order Arnold Carlson to remove the tank and sentence him to probation, but Carlson refused to accept probation and then was sentenced to jail.