Dec. 21, 2000—A hazardous waste transporting corporation and an employee have been indicted in a U.S. District Court on six counts of violating of the Clean Water Act (CWA).
Radford Alexander Corporation of Gardena, Calif., and an employee, Arnell Maxey, a resident of Garden Grove, Calif., were indicted Dec. 12 in Los Angeles for six violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA).
Radford Alexander operates Chemical Transportation Co., and Avalon Environmental Management. Chemical Transportation, also known as ChemTrans, is a hazardous waste trucking company, and Avalon Environmental Management is a treatment facility for non-hazardous waste in the Los Angeles area.
The defendants are charged with three counts of violating the CWA by knowingly discharging and causing the discharge of liquid pollutants including corrosive liquids and wastes with excessive levels of oil, grease and sulfides into the Gardena city sewer system.
The defendants are also charged with three CWA violations for failing to provide sanitation district inspectors access to the Gardena facility. Discharging hazardous wastes into sewer systems can create an exposure hazard for humans, can damage sewage treatment facilities and can kill bacteria that are necessary for proper sewage treatment.
The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division, the California Environmental Protection Agency, and the Los Angeles County Sanitation District. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.
