Waste Storage Lawsuit Ends With a Fine

The Riverside County Flood Control District was fined $100,000 and agreed to tighten internal procedures Wednesday after positioning large oil drums along the Santa Ana River to thwart trespassers.

The district and one of its employees were sued by district attorneys in Riverside and San Bernardino counties after a 2003 discovery of 14 large steel barrels stacked atop a Santa Ana River levee in Colton. The 2004 suit alleged illegal transportation and disposal of hazardous waste.

In the agreement in San Bernardino County Superior Court, the flood control district said it would allow unscheduled inspections of its storage yards, conduct hazardous waste training for its workers and permit a review of records to help ensure that improper storage “does not happen in the future,” said Stephanie Weissman, a Riverside County deputy district attorney.

Riverside County spokesman Ray Smith said officials were pleased the issue was resolved.

“It was poor judgment on behalf of someone trying to do good,” he said.

Law enforcement authorities say that in March 1999, a flood control district superintendent, Mark Biloki, supervised the transportation of the 10-foot-tall barrels from the district yard in Riverside to Colton.

“The idea behind the placement of the cylinders was to stop trespassing at the levee by those who were riding all-terrain vehicles and spraying graffiti,” Weissman said. “They built a fence with the cylinders that nobody could get through.”

Nine of the barrels contained hydraulic oil and chemicals including toxic benzene and lead. One barrel that was leaking contained a nonhazardous liquid.

“There was no harm to the environment from this,” Weissman said. “Had the stuff not been discovered, now that could’ve been a different scenario.”

Biloki is required to complete 125 hours of community service by Oct. 31.