California agency files criminal charges against recycler

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office has filed a five-count indictment against Panda International Trading and its owner, Da Xiong Pan, over what the state claims are improper handling and disposing of metals which the state deemed hazardous. The complaint follows an investigation by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), which found that the company violated the state’s hazardous waste control laws.

According to the complaint, the indictment against the company involved incidents on two different dates—June 4, 2013, and Nov. 23, 2013—when the company “did knowingly treat and store hazardous waste such as copper, lead, zinc and cadmium, at a facility that did not have a permit from the DTSC” and “knowingly caused hazardous substances to be deposited into or upon any road, street, highway, alley, railroad right-of-way, upon the land of another or into the waters of the state.”

According to the DTSC, Pan pled not guilty to all counts during his arraignment on May 27, 2016. His next court hearing is set for July 15, 2016.

“This criminal filing is a textbook example of how hazardous waste violations are discovered, investigated and prosecuted,” says Hansen Pang, DTSC chief investigator for its Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI).

The DTSC received assistance on the investigation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Los Angeles Port Police, Los Angeles Public Works, Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Health Hazardous Material Division.

To view the felony complaint, click here.