Couple’s Trash Goes Out With a Bang : Bomb Squad, Toxic Waste Hauler Do Some Spring Cleaning

When a cleanup crew hired by Rancho Palos Verdes moved in a few days ago to forcibly clear Edwin Roth’s corner property on Dauntless Drive, they found that Roth and his wife, Louise, had collected enough trash to fill five dump trucks and four 40-cubic-yard dumpsters.

“It’s easily over 200 cubic yards of material,” said Greg Fuz, city code enforcement officer. The bulk of it was wood and other combustible materials, he said.

There also was a collection of auto parts, old appliances--including a discarded refrigerator with the door still on it--cartons, crates, boxes, papers, garden tools, metal cans, the residue of vegetables that had been strewn on the ground as compost and three inoperable cars.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s bomb squad was called in after crystalized picric acid, a potentially explosive material commonly used in etching, was found in the garage, which one officer said “was full of junk, from floor to ceiling.” The two-man team took the one-pound jar to a nearby field and detonated it.

“It made a pretty big noise,” said bomb technician Sgt. Dale Underwood. The acid could have exploded if the jar had been dropped or had fallen over, Underwood said.

A Torrance firm specializing in toxic waste removal also was hired to dispose of about 55 gallons of corrosive liquids--including sulfuric acid and ammonium hydroxide--officially designated as hazardous waste.

“It was like walking into a junkyard,” said Cari Cooper, city administrative analyst, after visiting the site. “These are people that most of us would call pack rats. They just save everything for a very long time.”

In all, eight people worked for about five days at the Roth home, located on a tree-lined street in Seaview, a neighborhood of well-maintained, $200,000 to $300,000 homes developed in the 1960s that overlooks the Pacific east of the Portuguese Bend landslide.

The three cars, which the Roths will be able to recover after paying towing and storage charges, were taken away by the Sheriff’s Department.

Several officials said it was the worst property-maintenance problem they had ever seen in Rancho Palos Verdes, a city that prides itself on strict code enforcement. Last year, the city achieved notoriety when it filed misdemeanor charges against a resident for building a shed too close to his property line. The city dropped the charges after the resident made his shed narrower.

Acknowledging that the Dauntless Drive problem has existed since the Roths moved into their house in the late ‘60s, Fuz said it has persisted not because city officials had ignored it but because separate efforts by county Health and Fire departments and the city had not produced a solution. Officials said those efforts have included inspections, warnings, citations, at least one fine, and a 1985 court judgment, fine and jail sentence that the Roths are appealing.

“It got better, then it deteriorated,” Fuz said. “They would clean it up to make it passable” but within a year there would be more complaints.

The cleanup is a joint effort of the county and the city under a Rancho Palos Verdes ordinance that gives the city authority to compel a resident to eliminate a public nuisance.

The City Council on March 17 gave the Roths until March 31 to clean up their property, which they failed to do. The city then moved in to do the work, and Cooper said officials expect to charge the Roths between $10,000 and $20,000. She said that $5,000 will be charged for the hazardous chemical disposal alone. If the money is not paid, a lien will be put on the property, she said.

Some neighbors said Roth concealed most of the materials behind fences, thick pine trees and a makeshift stone wall. Although many neighbors said they were aware of the problem, even they were surprised at how much was removed.

‘17-Year Frustration’

However, one neighbor said there was no mystery about the accumulation of debris, and although she praised the city for taking action, she said it should be been done sooner.

“This has been a 17-year frustration” that about 15 neighbors have complained about for years, said the woman, who asked not to be identified.

Roth would not talk to a reporter, saying only, “There’s nothing available at this time.” His attorney in the appeals case also declined comment.

According to county health inspector Bert Nelson, the Roths were fined $75 in December, 1982, because of an accumulation of lumber that had become infested with rodents.

Sentence Suspended

In September, 1985, the Roths were each sentenced to 150 days in jail, which was suspended in favor of two years of probation, and fined $510 each after being convicted of violating the county Health and Safety Code. The sentence was delayed when the Roths appealed, and the case is not expected to be heard for three or four months, according to the district attorney’s office.

The Roths were charged, among other things, with accumulating fly-breeding garbage and decaying material, keeping chickens--which subsequently were removed--too close to their residence, and storing “lumber, trees, machinery parts, dead foliage, rubbish and debris” in a manner that attracted rodents.

Neighbors, most of whom asked for anonymity, have a variety of opinions about the Roths, but almost all describe them as a somewhat reclusive couple who have little company.

Edwin Roth is said to be a retired chemist and trade school teacher, and Louise Roth once drove a school bus, according to the neighbors. At one time, he had a number of cars and worked on vehicles late into the night. Many were towed away by the sheriff over the years, according to neighbors.

Chicken Farmers

One person, who called the Roth property “a filthy place,” said Louise Roth once told her they were chicken farmers.

“He’s obsessed,” said a neighbor who has known Roth since he moved into his home.

“At the height of his activities, he would go out every Saturday, come back with a car or a station-wagon load of stuff, and on Sunday, he would go back again.”

But he said Roth is “real helpful,” adding, “If I had a problem with a sprinkler, he’d help.”

Newcomer Dick Robinson, who moved in across the street from the Roths six weeks ago, had a similar view. “Ed helped me carry a lot of equipment in,” Robinson said. “He’s a great neighbor.”

Another man also was sympathetic: “They’re the nicest people you could expect. We were surprised at all this. . . . I feel sorry for them.”

But one woman said Roth was verbally abusive to some people and another described him as unfriendly.

Fuz said he did not ask Roth why he amassed all of the materials, but a neighbor said Roth once told him he regarded it all as valuable.

“He calls himself a collector,” said the neighbor. “But I told him he wouldn’t live long enough to use it.”

Vegetables Strewn About

Officials and some neighbors said Louise Roth habitually goes to a supermarket and brings home discarded vegetables, which she spreads around her property, sometimes without taking the wrappings off. Health inspector Nelson said the vegetables are intended to enrich the soil, but they are never turned under and decay on the ground.

Fuz said that as crews worked to remove material, the Roths salvaged as much as they could and put it in their house. A neighbor said the Roths also removed things from the dumpsters at night after the work crews had gone.

Fuz said the Health and Fire departments are still researching whether they can enter the house on grounds that it may be a hazard. Earlier, the city obtained a search warrant from Torrance Municipal Court to inspect the house and garage after the hazardous liquids were found, officials said.

One neighbor said he is afraid the Roths will start accumulating things all over again. But Nelson said that if that occurs, the county will file charges.

“We want this place cleaned up,” he said.

Fuz said the city will check on the property every couple of months and rely on neighbors to call if there is a problem.

“If we have to, we’ll go through it again,” he said.