United States Department of Justice
Press Release
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Department of Defense (DoD), announced today that on December 14, 2001, Advanced Metal Products (AMP), Newbury Park, CA, and its president, Harold D. Huber, pled guilty in California State Court, Ventura, CA, to five counts of unlawful treatment, storage, dumping and control of hazardous waste.
The guilty plea was the result of a complaint charging AMP, Huber, and former AMP vice president, Alexander Gonzales, with failure to properly store and illegal discharge of hazardous material into a city storm drain. The AMP produces machined aluminum and steel forgings for aircraft parts and equipment, supporting a variety of DoD programs, including the C-130. The investigation disclosed that since 1993, AMP has had a permit to generate hazardous waste by-products, such as nitric acid, sodium hydroxide, petroleum and aqueous cutting oils. The AMP allegedly failed to take any action to correct a number of increasingly serious violations noted by inspectors from the Ventura County Environmental Health Division. Such violations included the improper storage of sodium hydroxide sludge on site for over one year, open storage of waste petroleum, discharge of waste coolant into a city storm drain, and inadequate manifests and training. It was also confirmed that AMP routinely treated nitric acid by mixing it with baking powder. The company only held a permit to generate hazardous waste, not to treat it or store it for longer than 90 days. The trial of Alexander Gonzales is scheduled to begin on January 29, 2002.
When sentenced, each faces a maximum sentence of 1 year in prison and a $200,000 fine.
This investigation was conducted by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (the criminal investigative arm of the OIG, DoD), the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office, and the Ventura County Environmental Health Division. Senior Deputy District Attorney Mitch Disney, Ventura, CA, is handling the prosecution.
The point of contact regarding this press release is M. Davidson Martin, Resident Agent in Charge (RAC), Woodland Hills Resident Agency. RAC Martin may be contacted at
(818) 346-7925,extension 23.
To report suspected fraud, waste and abuse within DoD programs, contact the Defense Hotline toll-free at (800) 424-9098, e-mail at Defence or visit them on the World Wide Web at Department of Defence Hotline
