DISPUTE OVER WASTE SETTLED.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

LANCASTER - A waste-hauling firm whose former operator was accused of violating environmental laws will pay to haul away illegally stockpiled waste, officials said.

Piled in mounds up to 8 feet tall on Smith & Thompson's property, the waste material will be taken away by Waste Management trucks beginning next week to the Lancaster landfill.

``It's inert material. It's not going to cause any harm by going to the Lancaster landfill,'' said Norm Hickling, an aide to Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.

Sherwin Smith, co-owner of sister firm S&S, and former truck driver Marvin Dunbar have pleaded not guilty to criminal charges filed against them by Los Angeles County prosecutors.

Smith, who is charged with 36 felony counts of grand theft, illegally storing and disposing of hazardous waste, and forgery, is out on bond. Dunbar, who is charged with one count of grand theft, is free based on a written promise to appear in court.

Neighbors to the West Avenue L-9 property said in court papers that fumes and dust coming off the property burned their eyes and made breathing difficult, asserting that septic-tank waste was mixed in with other waste to camouflage it.

The neighbors obtained a court order last October barring Smith & Thompson from storing more waste on its property, and ordering it to make sure the existing waste didn't blow away or seep into the ground. Neighbors said they had to take action because city and county officials were not acting quickly enough.

County officials wanted the material - identified by government officials as pumice, a substance used in the stone-wash process for blue jeans - tested thoroughly before it was taken away to make sure it does not cause any further problems, Hickling said.

``We had to spend about $22,000 in testing to find out there was nothing in it. There were no hazards or toxins,'' said Gary Moll, an attorney for Smith & Thompson.

The material was placed there by S&S, not Smith & Thompson, Moll said.

Stephen Doniger, an attorney for the neighbors, said earlier tests showed e coli and fecal coliform bacteria at levels that if found on a beach would cause it to be closed to the public. Tests also detected hydrogen sulfide gas and hydrated lime was found on the property, he said.

If tests now indicate that contaminants are at levels they would not cause any further harm in a landfill, as county officials say, it is because of mixing materials to dilute it and because of the passage of time, Doniger said.

The California Integrated Waste Management Board voted in December to appropriate $250,000 for cleaning up the property if the owners failed to take action.

Hickling said the material will be hauled away at the owners' expense but under county supervision. The new operators have been very cooperative, he added.

Other material had been hauled away last year under county supervision, Hickling said.

When Smith and Dunbar were arrested last September, state officials said an investigation showed 331 occasions when waste was picked up but never taken where it was supposed to go. On 273 occasions, somebody forged signatures on documents indicating that the waste had been delivered to disposal facilities, state officials said.