Earlier this month, an Encinitas man was convicted of illegally dumping sodium cyanide and nitric acid in the Miramar Landfill.
If combined, these chemicals could create a cloud of lethal hydrogen cyanide gas. Fortunately, employees at the landfill spotted the substances in time.
Marc Vogel, owner of the We Lend More Pawn Shop in National City violated commercial waste regulations by hiring a hauler to take the toxic chemicals to the dump. It's a cautionary tale for homeowners, said Jose Ysea, the spokesman for the city of San Diego's Environmental Services Department.
"If you have a container and you look on the back and there's any caution or any advisory on the back that says flammable, corrosive, poison, that's your first indication, right there, that this does not belong in the landfill but instead to a household hazardous transfer facility," he said.
The Hazardous Waste Transfer Station at the Miramar Landfill is only open on Saturdays. San Diego residents can call for an appointment. The service is free.
