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August 15, 1990 <br />COUNTY OF SAN JOA IN <br />OFFICE OF EMERGENCY SERVICES RONALD E, BALDWIN <br />ROOM 610, COURTHOUSE COORDINATOR <br />222 EAST WEBER AVENUE <br />STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA 95202 <br />TELEPHONE (209) 468.3962 <br />HAZARDOUS MATERIALS DIVISION (209) 468-3969 <br />TO: Elaine Antolin & Lisa Brown <br />San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office <br />FROM: Kirk Lund <br />Hazardous Materials Specialist <br />RE: Personal observations regarding referral of Mr. Bill Lane for disposal and burning of <br />hazardous waste on property at 232001 S. Santa. Fe Road south of Escalon, California <br />On Friday, August 10, 1990 at 0845 1 received a phone call from Jim Czarnecki of the San <br />Joaquin County Air Pollution Control District. Jim Czarnecki asked that I meet him at the <br />intersection of Henry and Santa Fe Roads at 0930 to investigate whether a fire burning near <br />that location involved hazardous materials or waste. <br />One half mile before reaching the intersection of Henry and Santa Fe Roads, I noticed white <br />smoke coming from an area east of the railroad tracks. I noted that the smoke formed a white <br />low lying haze in the area and smelled different than a grass fire. <br />At 0935 1 arrived at 232001 S. Santa Fe Road and entered the property after seeing that a fire <br />was burning on the west side of the property. I estimated that the property was approximately <br />10 acres in size, and that almost 2 acres on the west side were burning or smoldering and <br />generating white smoke. From inside the vehicle I saw drums and storage tanks, an orange <br />compressed gas cylinder approximately 100 feet away from the burning materials, and that <br />Jim Czarnecki was already taking photographs of the burning area. <br />I parked next to the compressed gas cylinder and got out to inspect it and determine what its <br />contents might be. The cylinder was approximately 4.5 feet tall and 1 foot diameter, did not <br />have a label identifying its contents, was painted orange,.had a round ring shaped base on the <br />bottom, no visible bottom plug, the valve appeared to be brass or bronze, the cylinder was <br />stamped with a capacity rating of 144 CF (cubic feet), had a hydrostat stamped date from 1989, <br />and the cylinder cap was rusted and I could not remove it. When I rocked the cylinder, I could <br />feel that it contained approximately 3 gallons of an unidentified liquid. Cylinders of this type <br />are often used for flammable gases such as propane, and I am confident that the cylinder <br />contained propane and not acetylene. <br />I then went up into the smoldering area to speak with Jim Czarnecki and look for containers or <br />other signs of hazardous materials involved in the fire. Jim Czarnecki explained that a Mr. Bill <br />Lane was the property owner, that Mr. Lane had been operating a landfill on the property, that a <br />fire had been burning on the property since July 16, 1990, and that Mr. Lane would be cited <br />with an Air Pollution Control District violation for burning without a permit and on a non -burn <br />