SIMI VALLEY : Man Pleads Guilty in Toxic Waste Case

A former Thousand Oaks man who owned a now-defunct Simi Valley dyeing facility has pleaded guilty to felony charges in connection with illegal discharges of toxic waste into the sewers and environment, officials said.

Richard Virgil Bates, president and operator of Melody Knitting Mills, faces 10 to 16 months in prison when he is sentenced April 4 in federal court, officials said. Bates, 54, pleaded guilty Jan. 18 to two felony violations of the federal Clean Water Act, officials said.

The company, also known as Travelin’ West Textiles, had a long history of waste-water discharge violations with the city of Simi Valley through the 1980s, federal prosecutor Marc S. Harris said.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency began investigating in 1988, Harris said, adding that the EPA issued three cease-and-desist orders that year. The company eventually shut down rather than comply, he said. Bates was indicted last year.

“If this had gone to trial, the government would have called to testify expert toxicologists and chemists to say the chemicals this company was pouring into the system were extremely dangerous,” Harris said.

Bates is now living in Florida, Harris said. One of his employees, Kenneth Arthur Baber, 46, of Carson, also pleaded guilty to the federal charges, officials said.