Eight years ago a Corning recycling facility was destroyed in a spectacular fire. Neighbors, the city, the county and almost everyone else just wanted it cleaned up. That’s finally been done after years of legal entanglements and bureaucratic wrangling. The fire at Specialized Fibers burned for two days as firefighters used literally Millions of Gallons of water to extinguish it and risked their health dealing with unknown substances, including a lot of toxins not covered by the company’s use permit, such as Petroleum and solvents. The disaster closed South Avenue for more than a week. Five months later, with rainy season beginning, Tehama County Environmental Health raised alarms that the massive piles of hazardous materials that remained would be a threat to nearby waterways. The owner was criminally charged but then he died and his wife sold the property to Bucky Lee and Omega Waste, who were seemingly unconcerned about cleanup. Some materials remained unidentified and were still being tested when the site was declared a public nuisance. The companies worked out a deal with the county that included a $1.7 Million fine that was suspended pending cleanup, but the cleanup still was not done. A company called Pelorus then acquired the land and agreed to spend an estimated $2.6 Million to finally clean it up, but the entire mess remained untouched. Two years ago a judge appointed an independent receiver to manage cleanup. That was finally done by CalRecycle, which removed around 8,000 Tons of debris. The City of Corning discovered three years ago that Bucky Lee and Omega Waste were operating a second facility on Toomes Avenue in Corning under conditions very similar to the South Avenue facility. Apparently that has also been cleaned up and both properties are being sold.
-Steve Gibson