Plating Firm Charged With Illegal Dumping

The San Diego County district attorney’s office Thursday filed felony charges against a downtown plating company and two of its top officials, accusing them of dumping hazardous wastes on the ground, in a trash dumpster and in a sewer.

The complaint also accuses the company, Super Plating Works, 106 W. Martin Luther King Way, of illegally storing toxic wastes on its premises.

Among the chemicals dumped at the site--one of the premier blocks in the downtown San Diego redevelopment area--were corrosive materials, acid and metal sludge, copper, lead, nickel and cyanide.

Although the source of contamination has ceased, the extent of underground pollution on the block is still being studied.

Soil tests done in the block directly to the west, where construction is under way on the Marina Palms apartment complex, show no contamination, according to the Centre City Development Corp., the agency in charge of downtown redevelopment.

Josephine Kiernan, a deputy district attorney, said toxic waste probably has been illegally dumped at the site, at the northwest corner of King Way and 1st Avenue, for the last 15 years. Another plating company occupied the site before Super Plating Works, she said.

It was not until a former company employee told the county Health Department hazardous materials management unit about the dumping in March that authorities began investigating the company.

In April, the district attorney’s office obtained search warrants and visited the firm.

The four felony charges alleging illegal dumping cover a period from January, 1985, to April of this year. The one misdemeanor charge accuses the company of illegally storing hazardous wastes on its property from August, 1985, to April.

Super Plating Works executives named in the complaint are Sandra Lazovich, chief executive officer and general manager, and Thomas Nerat, secretary and chief financial officer.

Company officials were unavailable for comment, as were officials from the county hazardous waste management unit.

The site is proposed for development by Shapell Housing Inc. and Goldrich Kest and Associates. The developers have posted a $100,000 bond with CCDC and have begun discussions on a formal negotiation. Although a specific construction plan has not yet been proposed, CCDC officials say they envision a mixed-use high-rise project of about 20 stories.

Because of the concern over toxic pollution, CCDC hired the firm of Hydrotech Consultants Inc. to discover the extent of contamination and outline a cleanup plan. Its report should be completed any day.