Specialized Fibers' polluted sites in Corning facing another lawsuit

The ongoing legal and environmental case of Specialized Fibers in Corning and its ownership, Bucky Lee, Inc., and Omega Waste, Inc., continues with last week’s announcement by Tehama County District Attorney Matt Rogers that a “receiver” has been appointed in the county’s lawsuit against the Bucky Lee and Omega Waste.

Earlier this year the D.A.’s office brought suit against both corporations, for a second time, under the California Business and Professions Code, which prohibits unfair business practices.

After the D.A.’s office filed the second suit, a motion was made to appoint a receiver, which is a third-party manager, independent of either party to the action, who reports to the court and manages and remediates the problem properties. Tehama County Superior Court Judge Matthew C. McGlynn granted the D.A.’s office motion to appoint a receiver.

The latest suit, said Rogers, like the first, stems from the July 2018 ferocious fire at Specialized Fiber, 22985 South Ave., Corning, owned by Bucky Lee, Inc. and operated by Omega Waste, Inc., formerly owned by Robert O’Connor, who died in 2020 leaving his wife, Karen O’Connor, to deal with the devastation, both in the courtroom and at the blackened facility.

Tim Potanovic, director of the county Department of Environmental Health at that time, said Specialized Fibers had a Tehama County use permit to act as a recycling facility only, and did not have a permit to store any type of hazardous materials, such as the above-ground storage tanks containing regulated materials discovered during an investigation at the property by his department following the fire.

This discovery resulted in the Tehama County Department of Environmental Health, California Environmental Protection Agency, California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Tehama County District Attorney’s investigators conducting a search warrant in 2018 at the site during which 57 samples for various types of hazardous substances were obtained for analyses.

According to Potanovic, he estimates the cost to contain the hazardous materials to the property is about $300,000, while the cost to completely clean up and rid the site of all hazardous materials is $2.5 million.

Specialized Fibers was declared a public nuisance by the Tehama County Board of Supervisors on April 2, 2019, nine months after it went up in flames and the resulting debris and hazardous materials were left uncleared or remediated by the company.

After the fire and corresponding investigation, the D.A.’s office obtained criminal convictions against the corporations for environmental crimes, having found undeclared hazardous and toxic materials at the South Avenue site.

At the same time, in a separate but corresponding civil proceeding, the D.A.’s office obtained a civil judgment against the corporations, which included penalties, an injunction, and an order to clean and remediate the site.

O’Connor made a plea agreement with the district attorney’s office at that time, pleading guilty to two felony counts related to improper storage of toxic materials.

“Our ultimate goal is for the Specialized Fibers companies to clean up and remediate the site. We absolutely do not want the clean up to come out of the taxpayers pocketbooks,” Rogers said at the time of the plea agreement. Despite being subject to multiple court orders dating back to 2021, requiring remediation and cleanup, the corporations have failed to do anything to clean or remediate the South Avenue site..”

He adds, the site has remained blighted for several years due to the corporations’ failure to clean, clear and remediate

The D.A.’s Office claims in 2023 the City of Corning discovered a facility owned by Bucky Lee, Inc. and operated by Omega Waste, Inc. at 3070 Toomes Ave., Corning operated under conditions eerily similar to the South Avenue operation before the 2018 fire, according to Rogers.

The alleged violations committed at the Toomes Avenue facility were also subject to the latest civil suit filed by his office.

“Our motion for appointment of a receiver was backed by overwhelming evidence and supported by these corporations’ lack of action over the past three years, despite having every opportunity and incentive to clean and remediate the site,” Rogers said. “The appointment of a receiver is a huge step forward, and it is our hope that the public will soon see meaningful cleanup happening at the South Avenue site.”

However, a third party interested in the Specialized Fiber investigation, Pelorus Terminals, LLC, of Houston, Texas is frustrated with the latest move by the D.A.’s office.

Matthew Goitia of Pelorus said his company has been trying to purchase the Specialized Fibers property and has been “trying to honor an agreement” with Karen O’Connor, the county Board of Supervisors, county Environmental Health and state health and environmental agencies.

He claims the D.A.’s office actions are being counterintuitive to this attempt.

“If we had been able to purchase the property, Pelorus agreed to clean up and remediate the site out of its own pockets,” Goitia said. He also accuses the D.A.’s office of “bullying” O’Connor.

But, that purchase has yet to take place and the polluted acreage remains exactly as it has been since the 2018 fire.

Rogers said his office, on behalf of the health and safety of the county and its residents, has to move forward in remediating this case and doing what needs to be done to get the contaminated eyesore cleaned up as the investigation and case moves into its sixth year.