County Faces Threat of Fines Over Work by Embattled Firm

Already under fire for hiring a contractor repeatedly cited for illegal dumping, county officials now face thousands of dollars in potential fines for allowing the contractor’s crews to dig in a sensitive riverbed.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has threatened the county and contractor Tom A. Staben with up to $75,000 in daily civil and criminal penalties for excavating tons of silt from the Ventura River bed without proper authorization.

The digging, which took place as part of a road repair project near Ojai, may have damaged a waterway used by endangered steelhead trout, regulators say.

Meanwhile, environmentalists--as well as competing contractors--voiced outrage Friday after learning county officials intend to continue doing business with Staben.

Public works officials have recommended Staben be hired to replace the riverbed dirt his firm removed, federal records show.

In all, county officials have given Staben about $2.3 million in storm cleanup contracts since 1993.

“This contractor doesn’t really care about the environment, and the county turns around and rewards him for misbehavior,” said Russ Baggerly, secretary for the Ventura County Environmental Coalition.

“It says that the government either has no control of its contractors, or doesn’t care,” Baggerly said, adding that environmentalists plan to question the Board of Supervisors at Tuesday’s meeting.

Staben has been cited at least three times in the past five years by county officials on suspicion of dumping dirt, old cars, tires, engines and refrigerators into the Arroyo Simi. The debris threatens to clog county waterways and damage the stream bed, county code officials said.

But it was not until this month that county inspectors began aggressively enforcing the citations. Last week, they served a search warrant and flew by helicopter over the suspected Somis dump site to snap aerial photos, gathering evidence for a possible criminal action. They reported seeing workers dragging out some of the junk.

Staben is now under investigation by at least five federal, state and local agencies.

In the meantime, Staben continues to work on a $994,000 roadway repair project. Staben was hired during this winter’s El Nino storms to fix an embankment along the Ventura River near Ojai that collapsed under the sustained rains, causing severe damage to Santa Ana Road.

The Army Corps of Engineers has waged a protracted feud with the county Public Works Department and Staben over the project.

According to the corps, the county and Staben violated federal environmental law by refusing to comply with a permit that mandated steps be taken to prevent soil erosion.

More seriously, federal regulators say, the county authorized Staben to dig 35,000 cubic yards of earth out of the riverbed--about the equivalent of 35,000 washing machines full of dirt.

Digging Broke Federal Law, U.S. Officials Say

Rather than requiring Staben to buy the rocks and soil needed to fix the collapsed embankment, public works officials allowed Staben to use the excavated rubble for embankment repairs.

The digging violated the federal Clean Water Act and may have destroyed a habitat used by migrating steelhead trout and other fish, while causing erosion downstream, federal officials contend.

“They seem to be thumbing their nose at their responsibilities under the law,” said Bruce Henderson, senior project manager in the corps’ Ventura office.

The corps recently ordered the county to spend up to $40,000 to hire an environmental consultant to monitor Staben’s work near Santa Ana Road. The embankment repair job was supposed to be completed two months ago but is not expected to be finished until sometime next week, officials said.

Meanwhile, federal officials have ordered the county to draw up a restoration plan for the damaged creek bed. They are considering levying fines if repairs are not made.

The corps’ records show that the county has recommended hiring Staben’s firm to restore the damage done to the riverbed.

For their part, county public works officials say neither they nor Staben has done anything wrong. The riverbed digging was necessary given the emergency conditions created by winter storms, they said.

In addition, they argued in letters to the corps that heavy equipment use and other disturbances had been minimized--and that unnecessary federal regulation was slowing road repairs. A speedy conclusion to the project was necessary because Ojai Valley motorists were “experiencing delays which increase frustration and impatience, and at times lead to irrational actions,” public works officials wrote.

As for hiring Staben to replace the excavated dirt, Kenneth B. Gordon, the county transportation manager in charge of the Santa Ana Road project, said this week:

“That’s the type of work he does, so he certainly could do it . . . . If a decision is made we’re going to have him do it, that’s fine with me. If my bosses decide no, we’re not going to have him do it, we’ll put out a separate contract, fine.”

Public Works Director Art Goulet was unavailable for comment. Chief Administrative Officer Lin Koester refused to discuss the case and abruptly hung up the telephone.

Reached at his office at the Ventura Beach RV Resort this week, Staben refused to comment, other than to say he would issue a news release addressing the accusations.

But Staben’s legal troubles continued this week. Inspectors from the city of Ventura on Thursday visited a recreational vehicle park Staben owns and accused his corporation of piling a huge amount of dirt near the park, in violation of several codes and possibly compounding erosion in a flood plain.

Agency’s Records Show History of Complaints

Staben’s firm, Ventura Beach RV Resort Inc., is already on probation after pleading no contest to illegally storing 5,000 concrete construction blocks there. Ventura officials filed a criminal suit to revoke the firm’s probation and said Staben could face up to $5,000 in fines.

Meanwhile, corps records show the agency has fielded numerous complaints from contractors who say county officials have given Staben a competitive advantage by making certain exceptions--such as allowing him to dig up riverbed dirt rather than purchase expensive riprap and filler.

County Supervisor Frank Schillo said he had received numerous complaints over the years from contractors who contend Staben routinely breaks the rules.

Schillo said the county board was forced to choose Staben’s firm for the Santa Ana Road project because he was the low bidder. State law requires them to hire the low bidder, provided the bidder is “responsible,” he said. County officials consider a firm responsible as long as it has a contractor’s license, insurance and other documents.

But a labor attorney specializing in government contracts says the county has broader discretion, and can consider such factors as past performance on public works jobs.

“Their answer leads me to believe they’re dodging the question,” Los Angeles attorney Esteban Lizardo said.

“It would be simplistic to say a public agency’s hands are tied by the lowest bid. That may be the county’s position, but it is not consistent with the law.”

Alarmed by the illegal dumping accusations against Staben, Supervisor John K. Flynn said he will urge the county board to support a bill pending in the California Assembly that would tighten government contracting standards.

“It doesn’t make any sense to me to say everyone’s responsible,” Flynn said.

Schillo believes it is time to have a new discussion on the county’s policies in awarding contracts to the “lowest responsible bidder.”

“I think what we need to do is look at the word ‘responsible,’ and see what that means, whether it means a responsible member of our local business community.”

Chi is a Times staff writer and Warchol is a correspondent. Staff writer Miguel Bustillo and correspondent Holly J. Wolcott contributed to this story.