Hazardous waste being dumped, but officials stumped as to how much

By: SCOTT MARSHALL - Staff Writer | Friday, November 30, 2007 10:23 PM PST ∞

NORTH COUNTY -- A state official said it was remarkably easy to find 13 people in a San Diego County sting last month who were allegedly willing to haul hazardous waste illegally.

Although the state toxic-waste enforcement official said that suggests a significant problem may exist, others said they could not estimate the scope of the problem.

North County has seen its share of dumped hazardous waste, including containers with used oil and 5-gallon cans of paint left in areas of local creeks, officials said.

In the past, finding those who haul or dump hazardous waste without proper permits and training required authorities to catch someone in the act or receive word from an informant, said Gale Filter, deputy director of enforcement for the state Department of Toxic Substances Control. But four years ago, state officials began conducting sting operations.

Filter said the number of people charged because of those stings, including a three-day operation conducted in June in Chula Vista, has been troubling.

"The thing that is really disconcerting is how long had those people been doing this illegal transporting of hazardous waste before we caught them?" Filter said.

Local, county and state officials say, however, that while they know such hazardous waste is illegally moved and dumped, they can't say how much.

"If they are really smart, it's like the tree falling in the woods," said Mike Vizzier, chief of the hazardous materials division of the county's Department of Environmental Health. "I just don't know what we'd miss. We would catch any huge amount. I'm pretty confident of that."

Criminal charges filed

Three weeks ago, authorities announced that 13 people from the June sting operation in Chula Vista had been charged with attempting to transport hazardous waste without a permit in San Diego County and other, less serious but related crimes. Investigators had posed as the owners of a closed auto body shop who needed to dispose of 110 gallons -- an estimated 1,000 pounds -- of paint thinner, authorities said.

A spokeswoman for the state Toxic Substances Control Department said the sting targeted 51 people. Of those, 38 were not charged with any wrongdoing, she said.

Twelve of the 13 people who were charged have pleaded not guilty, and the last is scheduled to be arraigned next week. All of the defendants remain out of custody.

At the Nov. 14 announcement of the charges, a Toxic Substances Control Department investigator said that some of the defendants told undercover investigators that they planned to take the hazardous waste to Mexico or dump it on a ranch.

A health risk

Solvents such as paint thinner "create a host of problems," including posing a fire hazard or leaching into groundwater, said Filter. He added that the accumulation of solvents and other kinds of hazardous waste "can be a real health risk."

The county's Vizzier said allowing some substances such as ammonia and bleach to mix together can create toxic fumes that could be fatal.

Paint thinner such as that used in the local sting is a flammable liquid that can cause fires or explosions if not handled properly. Vapors from paint thinner are also flammable and put chemicals into the air, said Sam Richardson, a supervising criminal investigator with the Toxic Substances Control Department.

Richardson said too many variables exist -- including the age and gender of a person exposed to such airborne chemicals and the duration of the exposure -- to say what kind of effects the chemicals could have on people.

"Everybody will have different susceptibility to different exposure," Richardson said.

Toxics left by fires

In a previous sting operation in the Lake Tahoe area, state investigators also found people who were willing to transport material containing asbestos from burned homes without proper permits and training, Filter said. Asbestos poses a long-term risk of cancer, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The firestorms that swept across San Diego County at the end of October destroyed or damaged structures that may have had asbestos-containing material, the proper disposal of which also is a concern, Vizzier said.

From Nov. 8 to Nov. 20, local, state and federal officials worked seven days a week to go to every damaged or destroyed structure they were aware of and remove all of the household hazardous waste they could find, if homeowners allowed them access, Vizzier said.

The items removed from fire-damaged homes included things such as aerosol cans, propane tanks, batteries, paints and solvents.

The county's debris removal contractor is also trained in the proper disposal of hazardous waste from fire-damaged buildings, and property owners are urged to make sure they hire reputable contractors, Vizzier said.

Richardson said "there's no limit" to what kinds of hazardous materials people may be hauling and disposing without the proper training and permits.

If hazardous substances leak or are dumped out of containers, the speed with which they seep into the ground and potentially reach groundwater depends largely on the type of soil involved and whether the substance is water-soluble. Some material may take years to reach groundwater, Richardson said.

Waste found locally

North County waterways have endured their own encounters with illegally dumped hazardous waste in recent years.

Kevin Barnard, a board member with The Escondido Creek Conservancy, said he has seen many troubling items in and around the creek at Harmony Grove Road between Koana Loa and Elfin Forest Road, including 5-gallon cans of paint, oil and the occasional engine block.

"We're just constantly dealing with that stuff out here," Barnard said. "It's amazing."

Annual cleanups of Loma Alta Creek, Buena Vista Creek and the San Luis Rey River also turn up dumped waste, but it usually is less than 5 gallons of hazardous material, said Cynthia Mallett, an environmental specialist in the city of Oceanside's clean water program.

"We do find hazardous waste at each event," Mallett said.

County cases up this year

The cases resulting from the June sting operation mark the first time in at least seven years that the district attorney's office's environmental protection unit has prosecuted haulers of hazardous waste on a large scale, Deputy District Attorney Karen Doty said Monday.

During those seven years, three cases have been filed against people suspected of illegally dumping hazardous waste, but they did not involve large quantities, nor were any of the defendants repeat offenders, Doty said.

The county's Department of Environmental Health also can file administrative actions against alleged offenders.

In 2006, the department settled eight administrative enforcement cases involving the illegal transportation or disposal of hazardous waste. So far in 2007, the number of those cases stands at 19, Vizzier said Monday.

Despite that jump, Vizzier said he does not believe illegal transportation or dumping of hazardous waste is a big problem in San Diego County.

Contact staff writer Scott Marshall at (760) 631-6623 or smarshall@nctimes.com.

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