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PRESS RELHAS.E <br /> December 23, 1994 <br /> Page 2 <br /> which prohibit the operation of a landfill Without a permit. <br /> Finally, in March, 1992, Art Champ, the Chief of the Regulatory <br /> Section of the Army corps of Engineers, advised ALEGRE that the <br /> Kasson Road property contained federally protected wetlands, and <br /> further advised ALEGRE that no fill should be placed in the San <br /> Joaquin River and adjacent wetlands prior to the receipt of a <br /> valid Army Corps permit. According to the Indictment, ALEGRE <br /> never obtained such a permit. <br /> The affidavit in support of the search warrant goes on to <br /> state that notwithstanding these repeated and specific warnings, <br /> ALEGREIS trucking company records show he continued to dump into <br /> the wetlands on his Kasson Road property dozens of truck loads of <br /> "broken concretelf,f "contaminated dirt", "waste dirt", "broken <br /> tile". and other debris during the period from January 1991 <br /> through December 1992. <br /> The affidavit further reveals that ALEGREIS own current and <br /> former employees have admitted dumping waste, consisting of <br /> diesel contaminated soil, asphalt, broken concrete, broken tiles, <br /> and other trash onto the Kasson Road property on routine basis <br /> during the years 1989 through 1992, and that the ",cost free,, use <br /> r <br /> o <br /> of the wetlands on that property as a landfill f the disposal <br /> of solid wastes was a factor used in calculating bids and as a <br /> method for undercutting ALEGREIS competitors on numerous waste <br /> hauling contracts. <br /> Earlier this summer, the FBI and the Army Criminal <br /> Investigation Division executed another search on the business <br /> premises of FRANK C. ALEGRE TRUCKING, at North Cluff Road, <br /> n <br /> Lodi, California, to search for evidence concerning ALEGREIS <br /> discharge of hazardous materials into the sanitary sever lines <br /> leading from the truck wash rack area into the Lodi public <br /> treatment works. According to the affidavit in support of that <br /> search warrant, ALEGRE used hydrofluoric acid, phosphoric acid, <br /> sulfuric acid, and other hazardous materials as an "aluminum <br /> brightener" to clean ALEGREIS trucks, which then drained into the <br /> sanitary sewer lines. In June of this year, the Lodi Public <br /> Works Department secretly installed PH meters in ALEGREIS <br /> sanitary sewer lines to obtain readings only of ALEGREIS <br /> discharges. Those test results over a ten day period showed <br /> discharges of material with a PH of 2.5, well under the City of <br /> Lodi's prohibition of discharges of any material having a pH of <br /> less than 6.5, and In violation of the federal standard <br /> prohibiting discharges of a pH less than 5.o into publicly owned <br /> treatment works. According to the United States Attorney's <br /> Office, this matter has been referred to the City of Lodi Public <br /> Works Department for further enforcement action. <br />