Ex-Owner Ordered to Pay for Toxics Cleanup After Fire

A federal judge has ordered the former owner of a Sun Valley chemical plant that was destroyed in a 1985 explosion and fire to pay the Environmental Protection Agency $222,275 in cleanup and other costs.

U.S. District Judge William D. Keller ruled Monday against Marianne Pratter, 53, who already has served a six-month jail sentence for failing to remove toxic chemicals and contaminated debris after the fire at the now defunct Research Organic & Inorganic Chemical Co., 9068 DeGarmo Ave.

More than 50 people, mainly firefighters and police officers, were treated at area hospitals for breathing chemical fumes during the April 13, 1985, fire.

The EPA cleanup at the company, which stored and repackaged hazardous and radioactive compounds for resale to industry and laboratories, began two days after the fire. Among substances stored at the site were hydrofluoric and nitric acid, hydrazine, uranium and thorium.

The federal lawsuit, filed by the EPA in April, 1988, sought $25,000 a day for an unspecified number of days for Prater’s failure to answer EPA requests for information about the types of chemicals stored at her company. The suit maintained that the fire “caused the release of a vast array of chemicals” as well as damage to chemical containers.

Because Pratter “failed to take the necessary response actions,” the suit alleged, the EPA moved in to repackage and dispose of most of the dangerous materials. EPA workers removed 1,200 gallons of tainted water generated by the steam cleaning of the building and 77 drums of abandoned hazardous chemicals, according to the suit.

Keller granted the EPA a default judgment because of Prater’s failure to defend herself properly in the case. She missed court dates, failed to turn over documents and didn’t appear at depositions, said Peter Hsiao, the assistant U.S. attorney who represented the EPA.

“There was a history of her not showing up,” Hsiao said. “She never gave any sworn testimony. The judge just got fed up.”

Monday’s judgment includes attorney’s fees and civil penalties as well as cleanup costs. The co-defendants in the lawsuit, Juan and Marie Company, owners of the DeGarmo Avenue property, agreed to pay $110,000 to the EPA in connection with the cleanup, Hsiao said.

Pratter was sentenced to six months in prison in March after a San Fernando Superior Court jury found her guilty of failing to remove the chemicals after the fire.

Neither Pratter nor her attorney could be reached for comment.