Former California recycling company owner hit with felony convictions

Panda International Trading receives six felony convictions for violating California’s hazardous waste control laws.

The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has announced that an investigation that it conducted has led to a combined six felony convictions against the metals recycling company Panda International Trading Co. Inc. (Panda) and its owner Da Xiong Pan, which it says violated the state’s hazardous waste control laws.

The criminal complaint was filed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office April 28, 2016. Sept. 14, 2016, Pan pled guilty to five felonies and received 16 months in prison, which was suspended to one day in jail and 1,000 hours of community service. Panda pleaded guilty to one felony charge, and the company and the owner will pay $53,568.26 in restitution.

“With these convictions comes three years of probation for the facility and the owner. Among the restrictions is neither the owner nor Panda can store or dispose of hazardous waste or operate any business that does so,” says Hansen Pang, DTSC chief investigator for the Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI). “It’s critical that all facilities that handle hazardous waste abide by state regulations.”

DTSC’s OCI obtained a search warrant in November 2013 and collected evidence that indicated Panda International Trading released toxic levels of metal particulates onto the public sidewalk in front of its facility in Maywood, California.

According to the DTSC, the criminal complaint stated that Panda and its owner knowingly disposed of, treated and stored hazardous waste (copper, lead, zinc, cadmium, nickel, chromium) at the facility without a permit or authorization from the DTSC. Panda, which is no longer operating, was a scrap metal recycler that received, handled and stored cathode ray tubes (CRTs) and universal waste.

In addition to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, DTSC received assistance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Los Angeles Port Police, Los Angeles Public Works, Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Los Angeles County Fire Department Health Hazardous Material Division.

To view the charges, click here.