Leaders of a San Diego-area company are charged with 38 felonies, according to documents from the Superior Court of California in San Diego County.
CEO Gregory Lamb, Vice President Kezin Parabia and General Manager Jeffrey Lisowski of Santee-based Lamb Fuels are charged with conspiracy, treatment of hazardous waste at an unauthorized facility and transportation of hazardous waste to an unauthorized facility. All three men pleaded not guilty to the charges.
According to the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), the company leaders conspired to take fuel from abandoned cars in scrapyards, treat it illegally and sell the contaminated fuel to gas stations. DTSC said the "elaborate" and "sophisticated" scheme went on for a decade and spanned the state from San Diego to Sacramento. DTSC said in a release the company "grossly profited."
"Our team has done a lot of hard work over the last few years to investigate this case," said Katie Butler, deputy director of DTSC's Hazardous Waste Management Program. "We take our hazardous waste laws very seriously. They're there for a reason, to protect the environment and to protect human health. In this case, when gasoline is being illegally transported, treated and put back on the market unchecked, uncontrolled, it can have negative impacts on our air emissions and people's vehicles, potentially."
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The court documents detail instances in which Lamb Fuels dropped nearly 5,000 gallons of waste fuel to a gas station in Lemon Grove in July 2020. Months later, they delivered almost 3,000 gallons to a station in Poway. Similar incidences took place across the state.
Scrapyards in Oceanside and Chula Vista are also mentioned in the court documents. DTSC told NBC 7 they are still investigating who was involved in the scheme.
DTSC learned of the conspiracy through a tip.
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"We have an extensive enforcement team that's on the ground as well on a regular basis, regularly checking facilities, going to a wide variety of industries," Butler said. "But we can only be so many places physically. And so we do rely on a network of community organizations and local agencies to report problems when they see them as well."
