Waste Firm’s Documents Seized in Criminal Probe
Search warrants were served Friday at the Irvine offices of Waste Management Inc. as well as at the San Bernardino County planning office in what tight-lipped authorities said was part of “an ongoing criminal investigation.”
One person was detained for questioning and documents were seized, “but we haven’t been officially apprised of the nature of the investigation,” said Avis LaVelle, vice president of communications at the company’s corporate offices in Oakbrook, Ill.
Five years ago, then-San Diego County Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller warned public agencies to use “extreme caution” in dealing with Waste Management because of its attempts to “gain undue influence over government officials.”
Friday’s searches were mounted by the Sheriff’s Department in San Bernardino County, where Waste Management hopes to construct a 400-foot-high landfill in the High Desert between Barstow and Needles. Its Rail-Cycle proposal, made in partnership with the Santa Fe railroad, was rejected by San Bernardino County voters a year ago, but LaVelle said the company is still pursuing the $100-million project.
San Bernardino County Deputy Counsel Paul Mordy said county planning records were turned over to investigators, but no one was arrested.
“We’ve cooperated with the investigation,” he said, declining further comment.
Sgt. Paul Cappitelli, spokesman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, said investigators are looking into various criminal allegations.
“We are heavily involved in this investigation,” he said. “It is highly confidential and highly sensitive to the point where releasing any detailed information would jeopardize the future of the investigation. It still remains to be seen whether any arrests will be made.”
The affidavit supporting the search warrants was sealed.
The San Bernardino County district attorney’s office provided legal advice but is not otherwise involved in the investigation, said its chief investigator, Barry Bruins.
Waste Management, a subsidiary of WMX Technologies, is the nation’s largest trash hauling and disposal company.
LaVelle said the company “is cooperating to the fullest extent possible.” She said the investigation might be associated with the Rail-Cycle project, “but we’re certain our employees have acted appropriately in our efforts and any investigation will confirm that. We don’t think this is something that necessarily involves us directly.”
In 1992, the San Diego County district attorney’s office issued a 58-page report about Waste Management. That investigation found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the company. The report noted, however, that the company donated $50,000 to a nonprofit San Diego sailing foundation headed by a county supervisor, at a time when Waste Management was seeking approval to construct a landfill in the county.
A similar company background report, conducted by the Ventura County district attorney’s office in 1991, identified various criminal and civil cases filed against the company over a 10-year period, including bribery convictions of two of its employees in Illinois.
