Santa Fe Springs : Dumper Fined $40,000
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Neville Chemical Co., found guilty in Los Angeles federal court in October of illegally disposing of hazardous waste, was fined $40,000 last week and placed on probation for three years.
The case of the Pennsylvania-based company--which has a plant at 12800 E. Imperial Highway--marked the first conviction in the seven-county Central District of California for violation of federal hazardous-waste laws, said Janet Goldstein, assistant U. S. attorney.
“We are very pleased about obtaining” a conviction, said Goldstein, who noted that the company illegally disposed of orthodichlorobenzene--a chemical that can damage the liver and central nervous system of humans--by burying 55-gallon drums containing the solvent in 1981.
Fragments of about 20 drums containing the hazardous chemical were unearthed during a two-day search in November, 1985, by agents of the FBI and federal Environmental Protection Agency.
The company manufactures chlorinated wax used to make such things as fire retardant and paint.
Nicholas De Witt, an attorney representing Neville, said the company is planning to appeal the conviction.
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