VENTURA : Dealership Fined for Paint Runoff
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A Ventura automobile dealership was fined $1,190 Wednesday for letting paint waste water run from its gutters into storm drains feeding the Ventura River and the ocean.
The R.E. Barber Ford dealership at 3440 E. Main St. was convicted of violating the California Fish and Game Code, which forbids allowing paint waste to enter state waters because it is highly toxic to fish.
Defense attorney William Patterson had entered a no-contest plea on behalf of the dealership Tuesday before Municipal Court Judge Herbert Curtis III.
Curtis also ordered a year of probation in which the dealership could face stiffer penalties if it violates the law again.
In February, a citizen complained to the Ventura County Department of Environmental Health that paint waste water was running into the gutter behind the dealership, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Linda Groberg.
Investigators followed the trail of waste water from the gutter to the river, and later matched its color with the shade of blue that had been freshly painted onto several buildings at Barber Ford, Groberg said.
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