Residents’ Suit Accuses Clay Mine of Polluting Air

For months, dozens of Lockwood Valley residents have complained about air pollution, saying it is fouling their rural environment and harming their health.

It’s not smog from traffic or factories, which they left behind in urban centers. They say it’s fumes and dust from a clay mine. And they are frustrated because they don’t believe the government or the company take them seriously.

So they joined forces and filed a lawsuit last week, contending that toxic pollution from the plant has ruined their health, lowered property values and poses a long-term menace to the environment.

Twenty-six residents of Lockwood Valley, joined by a Los Angeles-based environmental group, say in the civil suit that Pacific Custom Materials violated environmental laws and exposed them to harmful emissions from a manufacturing plant. Many of the residents say pollution drove them from their homes, though some remain.

“They are killing the neighbors,” said Bill Dunlap, director of Environmental World Watch, a plaintiff in the suit and an advocacy group that targets companies suspected of breaking California’s anti-toxic laws.

“These are the worst guys we’ve ever seen,” Dunlap said. “They have emitted extremely hazardous substances into the environment, and allowed pollutants and particulate to migrate into people’s homes.”

The suit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday, the plaintiffs’ attorney said.

The suit’s assertions are flatly rejected by the Glendale-based clay-mining company.

Among the allegations in the lawsuit are that Pacific Custom Materials emits excessive fumes and dust, buries hazardous waste on its premises and has failed to notify the community of potential health risks.

The suit also names as defendants parent company Texas Industries, a Dallas-based firm that is one of the nation’s biggest suppliers of building materials, and Shag Hagler Trucking Co.

In a statement released Friday, company spokesman Frank Sheets called the allegations false and said the plant complies “with all applicable federal, state and county regulations.”

“[The company] is always willing to work with the community to continue the company’s improvement of the environmental impact of its operations,” the statement said. “Since acquisition of the facility in 1996, the company has expended significant sums to improve environmental conditions at the plant.”

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Meanwhile, in a surprise inspection, investigators from the California Air Resources Board and the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District visited the plant Wednesday and Thursday to test emissions and inspect records, according to county and state officials.

The official results of those tests won’t be known for a few weeks, said Dick Baldwin, executive officer for the local air pollution district.

In March, the air district cited Pacific Custom Materials for three violations of air quality rules, including one for dumping ultra-fine dust on the ground, with the dust scattered by trucks and wind.

“It’s like picking up talcum powder and putting it into a dump truck,” Baldwin said. “They were putting dust into the air that could easily cause a nuisance to the neighbors. This was a serious violation.”

The company was fined $10,000 for that infraction, plus $2,000 for two lesser infractions, and ordered to pay by Thursday, Baldwin said. He added, however, that he did not believe the air pollution was significant enough to cause the health problems alleged by neighbors of the plant.

The company, which is expanding its production, has sought approval to increase the use of natural gas, a fuel used to fire two clay-burning kilns at its plant. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Ventura County Government Center.

Also, the county district attorney’s office is investigating an alleged diesel fuel spill into a pond at the plant.

Pacific Custom Materials extracts clay from its mine in Los Padres National Forest, about 20 miles northeast of Ojai, and processes it in kilns at its plant in Lockwood Valley.

The company employs about 50 people and produces about 250,000 cubic yards of aggregate product annually for such items as skid-resistant highway surfaces, fireproof roof tiles and lightweight concrete for use in high-rise buildings.

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But in the manufacturing process, the plant produces about 180 tons of smog-forming emissions annually, ranking it as one of the county’s largest polluters, according to air quality officials.

In the lawsuit, attorneys for the residents say the company violates environmental laws intended to protect people and the environment from noxious chemicals.

A chief complaint is the release of diesel emissions, produced when diesel-soaked clay is superheated in kilns. Pacific Custom Materials is permitted to use up to 3.2 million gallons of diesel fuel annually, according to air quality officials, but a company spokesman said the plant burns only about 250,000 gallons per year.

Two years ago, state air quality officials declared diesel pollutants a cancer-causing substance. Studies also have linked the pollution to asthma attacks, allergies, heart and respiratory disease, and weakened lungs unable to fend off infections.

According to the suit, the plant has caused “numerous, sudden, recurring and continuous occurrences of excessive toxic emissions.” Also, the suit contends, plant officials have not acted to curtail them.

The company has been cited six times in the last 10 years on emission violations.

Furthermore, the suit contends the company is “burying dangerous and hazardous materials and substances” on its property.

The processing plant occupies 380 acres a few miles from Frazier Park and leases mining claims spanning 580 acres in nearby mountains. Mining operations, formerly under the name of Ridgelite, have been ongoing there since 1948.

Also, the suit alleges pollution discharges have occurred without adequate warning to the public, a violation of provisions of the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986.

Among chemicals the company has released without warning, the suit contends, are diesel exhaust, benzene, cadmium, formaldehyde, lead, naphthalene and a class of assorted airborne toxins known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. Many of those chemicals are on state and federal lists as agents known to cause cancer or reproductive harm.

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Taken as a whole, the plaintiffs say those practices constitute fraudulent concealment, unfair business practices, negligence, trespass and nuisance. They seek unspecified damages, though some of the alleged infractions are punishable by civil penalties totaling $5,000 per day of violation.

As a result of exposure to dust and chemical pollutants from the plant, some residents of Lockwood Valley, including those who live on lots next to the processing plant, have suffered physical injury, the lawsuit states.

Among the health damage the plaintiffs report are nausea, respiratory distress, painful breathing, shock, dizziness, and eye, nose and skin irritation.

Those symptoms have caused other adverse effects among the plaintiffs, including anxiety attacks and panic, emotional stress and “cancerphobia” as well as losses to property values and lost work time due to illness, according to the lawsuit.

The pollution also poses a long-term threat to the environment, the complaint contends, including air and ground water that could become contaminated by chemicals.

Specifically, the complaint contends that chemicals from the plant could spread contamination to distant reservoirs that supply drinking water, including Pyramid Lake and Lake Piru.

Although the lawsuit does not place a price tag on the amount of compensation sought, it says the residents seek payment for past and future medical costs, lost wages, property losses and emotional care.

The Lockwood Valley residents who joined the lawsuit said they decided to pursue a legal remedy because the company did not act to curtail pollution and county officials were not sufficiently responsive.

“We got no relief anywhere,” said Rick Thanstrom, a plaintiff and former Lockwood Valley resident.

“My family has been put out emotionally; we have moved and been through a real emotional ordeal. I’m not looking for millions of dollars. I’m concerned about my kids and their physical and emotional health for the rest of their lives. We want closure so we can go on with our lives.”