Quarry Owner Is Given Probation, $10,000 Fine
A quarry owner accused of illegally dumping dirt in a creek bed was sentenced Friday to five years of probation, 300 hours of community service and a $10,000 fine.
John Schmutz, owner of the Ortega quarry in Rancho Mission Viejo, pleaded no contest to two felony and four misdemeanor charges that carried a maximum prison sentence of three years. He was accused of purposely dumping as much as 100,000 cubic yards of dirt in Lucas Canyon Creek in 1998 and 1999. The creek is a tributary of San Juan Creek, which empties into the Pacific at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point.
His attorney, Paul Meyer, said Schmutz was merely buffering a road washed out by storms and that the dirt did not damage the creek.
But prosecutor Byron Nelson said Schmutz’s actions disturbed habitat for several imperiled species..
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