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e � PUIW ?°'cO1'c�G COUNTY OF SAN JOAQUIN e Za OFFICE OF EMERGENCY SERVICES RONALD E. BALDWIN COORDINATOR ROOM 610.COURTHOUSE • '0 222 EAST WEBER AVENUE w STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA 95202 ��/FORS TELEPHONE(209)468-3962 HAZARDOUS MATERIALS DIVISION(209)468-3969 August 15, 1990 TO: Elaine Antolin & Lisa Brown San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office FROM:Kirk Lund Hazardous Materials Specialist RE: Personal observations regarding referral of Mr. Bill Lane for disposal and burning of hazardous waste on property at 232001 S. Santa. Fe Road south of Escalon, California On Friday, August 10, 1990 at 0845 1 received a phone call from Jim Czarnecki of the San Joaquin County Air Pollution Control District. Jim Czarnecki asked that I meet him at the intersection of Henry and Santa Fe Roads at 0930 to investigate whether a fire burning near that location involved hazardous materials or waste. One half mile before reaching the intersection of Henry and Santa Fe Roads, I noticed white smoke coming from an area east of the railroad tracks. I noted that the smoke formed a white low lying haze in the area and smelled different than a grass fire. At 0935 1 arrived at 232001 S. Santa Fe Road and entered the property after seeing that a fire was burning on the west side of the property. I estimated that the property was approximately 10 acres in size, and that almost 2 acres on the west side were burning or smoldering and generating white smoke. From inside the vehicle I saw drums and storage tanks, an orange compressed gas cylinder approximately 100 feet away from the burning materials, and that Jim Czarnecki was already taking photographs of the burning area. I parked next to the compressed gas cylinder and got out to inspect it and determine what its contents might be. The cylinder was approximately 4.5 feet tall and 1 foot diameter, did not have a label identifying its contents, was painted orange,,had a round ring shaped base on the bottom, no visible bottom plug, the valve appeared to be brass or bronze, the cylinder was stamped with a capacity rating of 144 CF (cubic feet), had a hydrostat stamped date from 1989, and the cylinder cap was rusted and I could not remove it. When I rocked the cylinder, I could feel that it contained approximately 3 gallons of an unidentified liquid. Cylinders of this type are often used for flammable gases such as propane, and I am confident that the cylinder contained propane and not acetylene. 1 then went up into the smoldering area to speak with Jim Czarnecki and look for containers or other signs of hazardous materials involved in the fire. Jim Czarnecki explained that a Mr. Bill Lane was the property owner, that Mr. Lane had been operating a landfill on the property, that a fire had been burning on the property since July 16, 1990, and that Mr. Lane would be cited with an Air Pollution Control District violation for burning without a permit and on a non-burn