The Region : Vodka Dumping Ruled a Toxic Hazard

A Florence bottler and a Compton trucking firm have agreed to pay $40,000 in civil penalties to end charges that they negligently disposed of 30,000 gallons of hazardous waste--vodka. District attorney investigators said the vodka was too cloudy to sell, so NDC Distributors Inc. and California Cartage decided to dump it at Operating Industries Landfill in Monterey Park. But ethyl alcohol, vodka’s chemical name, is flammable and toxic, and the landfill was no longer licensed for liquid hazardous waste disposal. So Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert B. Werner sued the two firms in Los Angeles County Superior Court for violation of the state’s Hazardous Waste Control Act. The companies admitted no wrongdoing in agreeing to pay the penalties.