'Arsenic Pond' In California: Bottled Water Company's Guilty Plea

CALIFORNIA — The California company that produces Crystal Geyser Natural Alpine Spring Water pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges of illegally storing and transporting thousands of gallons of arsenic-contaminated wastewater, the U.S.. Department of Justice announced.

CG Roxane, LLC pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful storage of hazardous waste and one count of unlawful transportation of hazardous material. In its plea agreement, the company agreed to pay a criminal fine of $5 million.

A manmade "Arsenic Pond" at the company's facility in Olancha, California — which contained five to eight times the federal hazardous waste limit of arsenic — was the central focus of the case.

For approximately 15 years, CG Roxane discharged arsenic-contaminated wastewater into the pond along Highway 395, according to the DOJ. The dumping occurred because the company gets its water by drawing groundwater from the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The groundwater contains naturally occurring arsenic, so the company filtered out enough of the toxin to meet federal drinking water standards for its bottled product — which is sold at stores and eateries across the state.

Arsenic Pond was a threat the area’s groundwater and wildlife. In March 2013, the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board took a sample from the Arsenic Pond and in 2014 informed CG Roxane that it found an arsenic concentration more than eight times the hazardous waste limit, according to the DOJ.

The water board referred the matter to the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, which took its own samples that showed Arsenic Pond had an arsenic concentration almost five times the federal hazardous waste limit. More sampling and testing by CG Roxane and a laboratory it hired confirmed the findings, according to the DOJ.

Finally, in April 2015, DTSC officials met with CG Roxane and presented a list of preliminary violations, and instructed the company to get rid of Arsenic Pond.

The following month, CG Roxane hired two Los Angeles-area companies to remove Arsenic Pond and transport the hazardous wastewater. The work was done, but the companies never identified the stuff they were transporting as hazardous.

They brought the waste to a Southern California facility, and in the end more than 23,000 gallons of the arsenic-laden wastewater was likely discharged into a Southern California sewer without ever being treated, according to the DOJ.

The two companies hired to transport and treat the wastewater — United Pumping Services, Inc. and United Storm Water, Inc., both located in the City of Industry — were charged along with CG Roxane in this case in 2018. Both companies are scheduled to go on trial on April 21. If convicted, each company would face a statutory maximum fine of $8 million.

As for CG Roxane, following its guilty plea Thursday, United States District Judge S. James Otero has scheduled a sentencing hearing for February 24.

A call to the company went unanswered Thursday and there was no immediate reply to an email sent asking for comment.