Search

Plant Owners Jailed for Accepting Explosives Illegally

Posted on 3/17/2025 by Lion Technology Inc.

Last week, owners of a scrapyard that neighbors a Los Angeles-area high school were taken into custody to spend several days in jail for violating a court order. Awaiting trial on 25 counts of criminal hazardous waste management violations, the pair were found to have violated a court order by continuing to accept canisters that held explosive materials.

To avoid explosions, a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge ordered the company not to accept any gas containers that hadn’t been cut or punctured. This measure was chosen over assigning bail or taking the owners into custody, to prevent future explosions.
 

Plant Owners Jailed for Accepting Explosives Illegally

Alleged Criminal Title 22/RCRA Violations

On September 26, 2025, a news release from Los Angeles County detailed the charges that the plant owners face. The two were charged with:
  • Twenty-one felony counts of knowingly disposing hazardous waste at a site with no permit and one felony county of deposit of hazardous waste.
  • One felony count of deposit of hazardous waste.
  • Two misdemeanor counts of failure to maintain or operate a facility to minimize the possibility of a fire or explosion and one count of public nuisance.
  • One misdemeanor count of failure to operate a facility to minimize the possibility of fire, explosion, or any unplanned sudden or non-sudden release of hazardous waste/hazardous waste constituents to air, soil, or surface water.
Soil from the adjacent high school showed high concentrations of lead and zinc. Metal debris from explosions at the plant have allegedly been found at the school.

The owners plead not guilty and are still awaiting trial.

Find a Post

Recent Posts

Compliance Topics

Compliance Archives

Lion - Quotes

This is a very informative training compared to others. It covers everything I expect to learn and even a lot of new things.

Quatama Jackson

Waste Management Professional

I have been to other training companies, but Lion’s material is much better and easier to understand.

Mark Abell

Regional Manager

The instructor was very dedicated to providing a quality experience. She did her best to make sure students were really comprehending the information.

Stephanie Venn

Inventory Control Specialist

The price was reasonable, the time to complete the course was manageable, and the flexibility the online training allowed made it easy to complete.

Felicia Rutledge

Hazmat Shipping Professional

Excellent class, super instructor, very easy to follow. No rushing through material. Would like to take his class again.

Lawrence Patterson

EH&S Facility Maintenance & Security Manager

Well designed and thorough program. Excellent summary of requirements with references. Inclusion of regulations in hard copy form, as well as full electronic with state pertinent regulations included is a great bonus!

Oscar Fisher

EHS Manager

I think LION does an excellent job of any training they do. Materials provided are very useful to my day-to-day work activities.

Pamela Embody

EHS Specialist

Lion's online training is more comprehensive, has better slides, and is a superior training experience than what I would get from other trainers.

Robert Brenner

District Environmental Manager

Excellent job. Made what is very dry material interesting. Thoroughly explained all topics in easy-to-understand terms.

David Hertvik

Vice President

Lion is at the top of the industry in compliance training. Course content and structure are updated frequently to make annual re-training enjoyable. I like that Lion has experts that I can contact for 1 year after the training.

Caroline Froning

Plant Chemist

Download Our Latest Whitepaper

This report details major changes for hazardous waste generators from US EPA’s Generator Improvements Rule, as well as the latest updates from states that are still working to adopt new, stricter Federal requirements.

Download
Latest Whitepaper

By submitting your phone number, you agree to receive recurring marketing and training text messages. Consent to receive text messages is not required for any purchases. Text STOP at any time to cancel. Message and data rates may apply. View our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.