Evergreen Chemicals is only a short distance from the STANDARD Hotel (who admitted they poured a vast amount of toxic "pool chemicals" down the city drain causing a HAZMAT response)
Standard Hotel tied to subway gas scare
By SCOTT GLOVER
JAN. 31, 2009 12 AM
For a few terrifying moments in the early morning hours of the recent Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, authorities in Los Angeles were concerned that terrorists had launched an attack in a downtown subway station.
Several people had been overcome by a cloud of noxious gas, causing at least two of them to begin vomiting and a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy to experience a burning sensation in his eyes and lungs.
But hazardous-materials teams were unable to find the source of the gas in the Metro station at 7th and Figueroa streets, so fears of terrorism began to fade. Ultimately, investigators determined that the toxic cloud was chlorine gas emanating from a storm catch basin two blocks away.
The culprit, prosecutors allege, was not some scary extremist group, but the owner of The Standard, a trendy downtown hotel with a reputation for celebrity sightings and a rooftop swimming pool.
Hotel maintenance workers initially admitted pouring a small amount of chlorine down a rooftop drain. But investigators did not believe that would have accounted for the noxious cloud. An FBI agent, who specializes in environmental crimes and who is known for her pit bull-like tenacity, conducted follow-up interviews in which employees eventually acknowledged emptying the majority of two 50-gallon drums of muriatic acid and chlorine into the drain, the complaint alleges.
As a result, the company that owns the hotel was charged by the U.S. attorney’s office late Thursday with knowingly disposing of hazardous waste. If convicted, the company could be fined up to $500,000.
“The law does not discriminate between hazardous wastes generated by chic hotels or foul junkyards,” said Asst. U.S. Atty. Joe Johns, who is prosecuting the case. “What they did is not only illegal, it’s extremely dangerous.”
A New York public relations firm hired to represent the company that owns the hotel – Andre Balazs Properties – issued a statement of apology.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jan-31-me-standard31-story.html
Evergreen Chemical Solutions - locations
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jan-31-me-standard31-story.html