SATICOY : Factory Owner Faces Charges Over Waste

The owner of a chemical factory that burned in 1989, producing poisonous fumes that forced the evacuation of 1,500 Saticoy residents, has been arrested on suspicion of hazardous waste violations, prosecutors said Friday.

Benjamin Lynn Adams, 42, was arrested this week at his parents’ home in Newbury Park, more than two years after a blaze destroyed the factory, Deputy Dist. Atty. Marcia W. Strickland said.

Adams is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 30, when he will face felony charges of illegal disposal and storage of hazardous materials. If convicted, he could be sentenced to three years in prison and fined $100,000, Strickland said.

A warrant for Adams’ arrest was issued after the April 10, 1989, fire at the now-defunct pharmaceuticals plant. But authorities could not arrest Adams because he was in the Philippines, Strickland said.

However, a tip led investigators to his parents’ home on Sunday. Adams had apparently been visiting there, Strickland said.

He has since been released on $20,000 bail, a jail spokesman said.

Before the fire, Adams’ company, Pacific Intermediates, had been under the scrutiny of fire and environmental officials for alleged offenses involving electrical wiring and toxic materials.

Complaints starting in 1988 led to the preparation of a search warrant, but days before it was going to be executed, the building burned down, Deputy Dist. Atty. Gregory W. Brose said.

Adams was arrested immediately after the fire, but was released pending the filing of charges, Brose said.

Charges were later filed, but Adams could not be located until his arrest Sunday, the prosecutor said.

The cause of the fire has not been determined, fire officials said.