Richard Miller finally settles years-old lawsuit filed by county
Staff Report
Humboldt Sentinel
A long-awaited settlement of an illegal dumping case is finally in the payment phase.
After 17 violations of environmental regulations and hazardous materials handling laws were discovered over the span of an eight-year investigation and lawsuit, Richard Miller, the former owner of Redwood Motorsports in Eureka, is due to pay $100,000 to settle the case.
Under the terms of the agreement reached by the office of District Attorney Paul Gallegos, Miller will additionally reimburse more than $28,000 in costs to the county, as well as complete the removal of an illegally abandoned underground storage tank.
The original investigation was initiated in 2003 by the Division of Environmental Health, an arm of the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services. DEH director Melissa Martel pursued the investigation, during which her office discovered that Miller had dumped toxic materials in local storm drains. Miller was also charged with failure to provide personnel training, failure to provide required paperwork and illegal transportation of hazardous waste.
An additional investigation in 2005 revealed that Miller’s hazardous waste was being illegally stored in Carlotta in large drums which were deteriorating and leaking waste oil, solvent and gasoline into the soil. Due to these contamination issues, Miller was required in the terms of the settlement to clean up both properties.
“This case illustrates that it really doesn’t pay to disregard the rules,” deputy district attorney Christa McKimmy stated in a release. “We hope that businesses recognize this and act responsibly to protect our environment.”
Since the judgement against him was entered earlier this year, Miller has already paid $28,000 in cost recovery, along with over $13,000 towards the $100,000 penalty.
“Sadly, toxins and pollutants dumped into our sensitive waterways and ecosystems don’t simply disappear,” Gallegos stated in a release. “They linger in our environment and do untold damage for years to come. The sooner we can catch and stop perpetrators like Miller, the more effective we can be in limiting that harm.”
Martel noted that fines such as these are levied against polluters only after other efforts to obtain compliance have been exhausted.
“While local agencies work hard to educate the public about community about hazardous materials laws and regulations, sometimes fines and penalties are warranted,” she said. “We do our best to keep Humboldt healthy.”
There is no “Redwood Motor Sports” in the phone book. Where was it?
Is this the same Richard Miller that’s listed selling motorcycles and spa’s off Broadway?
The same.
good job, there are 5,000 illegal grows all over the county dumping rat poison, oil, and diesel in the waterways while they are sucking up what’s left of the creeks… you just have to drive 1 mile out of any town but the county spends years going after one guy. go figure.
Just for the record the current business located at the site in eureka has nothing to with nor had any previous knowledge of the contamination, the violation or the case. It is all news to them.