Thomas faces 33 felony charges for Bolsa Chica dumping

Kenneth Ma

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Former Councilman John Alfred Thomas has been

charged by the Orange County district attorney’s office with 33 felony

counts of dumping dredge or compost into a portion of the Bolsa Chica

wetlands, considered to be national waters.

“This is egregious because he has destroyed a portion of the most

environmentally sensitive ecosystem in the country,” said Deputy Dist.

Atty. Scott Zidbeck. “Of all the wetlands in the state, only 5% remain --

of which Bolsa Chica is one.”

Thomas, a 60-year-old resident who runs an oil drilling operation on a

56-acre property bordered by Edwards and Seapoint streets and Garfield

Avenue, was arraigned in Westminster court Tuesday morning. The former

City Council member leases the property from Hearthside Homes.

Thomas has championed environmental causes in the past. During his

tenure from 1978 to 1986, the gravel-voiced Thomas often ran into

controversy.

Now, he is charged with allowing dump trucks onto the site to deposit

chipper waste and fill dirt totaling 38,000 cubic yards over 13.5 acres.

The dumping killed vegetation in small pockets of wetlands divided by

roads, which are known as cells, said Zidbeck. Thomas is also charged

with a felony count for dumping oil into national waters and a

misdemeanor for altering a stream bed.

In addition to the current felony charges, Thomas also faces 19

misdemeanor charges that were brought against him earlier this year for

an oil spill that killed 14 birds. The district attorney’s office

originally charged him with 159 misdemeanor counts but dropped most of

them in order to make prosecution easier.

Thomas is expected to enter pleas for both cases during another

arraignment on Aug. 1.

The felony charges may be punishable by up to five years in prison or

$50,000 per day if it is determined to be a continuing violation. The

misdemeanor charges are punishable by six months in prison or a $1,000

fine. Thomas declined requests for an interview, preferring to have his

attorney, Julian Bailey, speak on his behalf.

Julian said he agrees with the fact that compost has been found in the

wetlands, but he insists that Thomas’ actions were not criminal. Thomas

will plead not guilty at the August arraignment, he said.

“People make mistakes,” Julian said. “I am just disappointed and

somewhat surprised that they were filed.”

Compost and dirt got into some cells because of modifications to oil

rigs to mitigate flooding, Julian said. He said dirt that was removed

around the rig’s front to raise the drill area was also pushed alongside

the road into the cells.

Thomas’ company “is committed to spending six to seven figures to

clean up the compost,” he said.

As for altering the stream bed, Bailey said, it never existed in the

first place.

The new charges were a surprise, he said, because Thomas was in the

process of cleaning up the dirt and compost. Julian said the charges

should be treated in a civil case instead of criminal.

Zidbeck said Thomas’ actions were severe enough to warrant criminal

charges against him.

“There is a line between criminal and civil conduct, and Mr. Thomas

crossed that line,” he said. “We believe he was making a profit by

allowing dumping on his land. It is hard for me to believe that you would

have good intentions destroying these wetland cells.”

The latest charges are the result of a 1998 inspection by the

California Department of Fish and Game’s Office of Spill Prevention and

Response.

The state agency’s investigators found an oil pool about 1 1/10 of an

acre on Thomas’ property. After further analysis with historic aerial

photographs and waste found at the site, it was determined that Thomas

had violated laws protecting national waters, Zidbeck said.

Earlier this year, Thomas faced misdemeanor charges, still pending,

for contaminating a pond near his oil wells, failing to report the

contamination and harming wildlife.

The state agency discovered that spill in 1999. The pond was cleaned

within four days, but not before more than 100 birds, mostly ducks, were

observed to be soaked with oil, said Stephen Edinger, a patrol lieutenant

for the department. Of the 33 birds rescued, 14 died, he said.