5 Charged With Defrauding Caltrans in Dump Cleanup

Five businessmen have been charged with shortchanging the state Department of Transportation about $1 million in connection with the cleanup of the Willco Dump in Lynwood, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner announced Tuesday.

Reiner said the charges stem from a secret agreement made at an August, 1983, meeting arranged by County Supervisor Mike Antonovich. The pact enabled a contractor, Andrew Papac & Sons of South El Monte, to reduce the cost of disposing of hazardous waste from the site while keeping the savings for itself and concealing the $5-a-ton price cut from state officials, the district attorney said.

Caltrans had ordered the dump excavated and the contaminated dirt removed to make way for the long-delayed Century Freeway. About 225,000 tons of waste were removed before the cleanup was stalled three years ago.

Although the meeting was held at Antonovich’s office, the supervisor has said he did not participate in the discussion between Papac and BKK Corp., owner of the landfill where the waste was deposited.

Maintaining that Antonovich has cooperated with investigators and is not a suspect in the case, Reiner told reporters: “The evidence and the information that we have at this time does not indicate any criminal involvement on the part of Supervisor Antonovich.�

However, Reiner acknowledged that there are “different versions� of whether the supervisor participated in the meeting. Witnesses, including some who have refused to cooperate in the investigation, have been subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury in an effort to reconcile the conflicting accounts and determine if further charges are warranted, he said.

Charged with two felony counts of grand theft and two counts of conspiracy were Andrew (Butch) Papac, 72; his son, Andrew G. Papac, 41; their excavation and heavy hauling firm; and a business associate, William Paul Dunlap, 41, of Hollywood.

Also charged with conspiracy to commit grand theft were Jack Thompson, manager of the BKK landfill in West Covina; former BKK controller Charles Dean Virden, 61, and the BKK Corp. In addition, Dunlap and his wife, Patricia Ann Dunlap, are charged with failing to file state income tax returns for 1983 and 1984.

Dunlap and Thompson were released on bail after their arrest Tuesday, and are scheduled to be arraigned on March 4. The others are expected to surrender Thursday, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. John F. Lynch.

Reiner said that at the meeting, BKK and the Papacs agreed to lower disposal fees from $24 a ton to $19 a ton, “and there was also an agreement not to inform--and to deceive--Caltrans as to the reduction.� The Papacs’ contract with Caltrans required the contractor to notify the agency if its costs were lowered, the district attorney said.

Under terms of the arrangement, the Papacs alone pocketed the overpayment from Caltrans but BKK also profited by getting money in advance from the Papacs, Reiner said.

In a written statement issued through his office Tuesday, Antonovich said, “A meeting was held in my office at the request of . . . Papac, who wanted to meet with BKK representatives to discuss the disposal of hazardous waste. I did not participate in the meeting. I am not aware of any laws which were broken. However, if such is the case, the involved parties must be held accountable.�

Attorneys for the Papacs and Dunlap had no comment Tuesday, but in earlier interviews with The Times the elder Papac and Dunlap said the deal was perfectly proper.

Ken Kazarian, president of BKK, said Tuesday that he was “shocked� by the charges.

Noting that the landfill company has long been a source of controversy in West Covina, he added: “After conducting our business in a virtual fishbowl for many years, it is impossible for us to believe that this mistake has even been made. We are sure that after reviewing the facts, the D.A.’s office will admit that there has been no wrongdoing by BKK and any of its employees.�