Trash Firm Settles Dumping Suit for $30,000

A Van Nuys waste-hauling firm, which dumped a truckload of trash outside a North Valley apartment complex and then refused to remove it, has settled a civil case for $30,000 with the building’s owner, a lawyer for the plaintiff said Monday.

The Foothill Waste and Reclamation Co. settled the civil case, brought by building owner Phil Markowitz, out of court, said Markowitz’s lawyer, Costas Ladikos, on Monday.

Last year the company pleaded no contest in Los Angeles Municipal Court to four criminal counts of illegally dumping the 6-foot-high mound of trash behind the 12-unit North Hills apartment complex owned by Markowitz.

“It was Foothill Waste that did the wrongdoing and their attorney who backed up what they did,” said Markowitz on Monday. “This was David versus Goliath.”

Markowitz said the dumping was the result of a dispute he had with the company shortly after he bought the building in early 1994. The waste company told him that $1,200 in fees was owed for trash pickup at the building, but he refused to pay, saying the bill was run up by former owners of the property.

Markowitz said the company threatened to dump trash on his property if he didn’t pay up, and in April 1994 one of his tenants saw two men back a red and blue truck behind the apartments and said the word “Foothill” was clearly identifiable on the side of the vehicle.

The court fined the company $4,000 plus penalties, bringing the total to $12,800.

“Innocent people don’t pay $12,000 in a plea bargain and $30,000 to settle a civil suit if they’re so innocent,” Markowitz said.

Foothill Waste officials refused Monday to discuss anything concerning the case. Company attorney Michael Collins of Encino also had no comment.