Owner of Sante Fe Springs Trucking Company Pleads Guilty to Dumping Waste into San Gabriel River

LOS ANGELES, CA - A man who ran a trucking company in Santa Fe Springs pleaded guilty Monday to dumping 11,000 gallons of waste water and soap into a tributary of the San Gabriel River.

David Lee Flury, the 61-year-old owner-operator of Flury Industries Inc., entered his plea to a felony charge of water pollution before U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson, who set an Aug. 15 sentencing date, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The San Gabriel River flows into the Pacific Ocean at Alamitos Bay between the cities of Long Beach and Seal Beach. As part of his plea, Flury acknowledged that the city of Santa Fe Springs spent nearly $750,000 cleaning up the soapy waste that he illegally dumped into Los Coyotes Creek.

"Water is a resource that we cannot afford to waste or pollute in drought-stricken Southern California," said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker. "This defendant's crime caused significant harm to the public, taxpayers and the environment."

Flury was indicted on multiple felony counts, including water pollution, mail and wire fraud, witness tampering, destruction of evidence, and identity theft.

The indictment alleged that Flury told clients of his waste hauling company that he would pick up their various waste products and transport the waste for disposal at a facility licensed to receive and dispose of such waste products.

Instead, Flury illegally dumped tens of thousands of gallons of waste products into the San Gabriel River and desert areas in Riverside County, federal prosecutors said.

As a result of Monday's plea, Flury faces up to three years in prison, according to prosecutors.

--City News Service, photo via Wiki Commons