Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/281401
By Michael Biesecker The Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. » North Carolina regulators say D u ke E ner g y i l le g a l ly pumped 61 million gal - lons of contaminated water from a coal ash pit into the Cape Fear River, marking the eighth time in less than a month the nation's larg - est electricity company has been cited for environmen- tal violations. The pumping violated the terms of Duke's wastewa- ter permit at its Cape Fear Plant, State Department of Environment and Natural Resources spokesman Ja - mie Kritzer said Thursday. Kritzer said the agency has issued Duke a formal notice of violation, which could re - sult in hefty fines. Reg ulators from the agency said the illegal pump- ing had been going on for months. It wasn't immedi- ately clear if Duke's efforts to empty the pond were related to a crack in the earthen dam holding back the coal ash. Duke first disclosed the ex - istence of the crack to regu- lators on Thursday. Inspectors are trying to determine the cause of the crack, but the dike does not appear to be in imminent danger of collapse, said State Dam Safety Engineer Steve McEvoy. Duke did not respond Thursday to requests for comment from The Associ - ated Press. A Feb. 2 pipe collapse at a similar Duke coal ash dump in Eden coated 70 miles of the Dan River with toxic sludge. Duke has nearly three dozen other ash pits spread out at 14 coal-fired power plants across the state. The state is now test - ing water samples from the Cape Fear River for signs of hazardous chemicals. Coal ash contains arsenic, lead, mercury and other heavy metals highly toxic to hu - mans and wildlife. Several sizable cities and towns are downstream of the Duke plant, including Sanford, Dunn, Fayetteville and Wilmington. Kritzer said municipal officials in those communities have re - ported no problems with drinking water. Duke's dumping was first spotted March 10 by the en - vironmental group Water- keeper Alliance, which took aerial photos of two large mobile pumps at the facility. The pumps appeared to be sucking water directly from a large coal ash dump into nearby woods and into a ca - nal leading to the river. State regulators went to the site the following day for what Kritzer said was a previously scheduled visit as part of planned inspec - tions of all of Duke's coal ash dumps in the wake of the Dan River spill. As is customary, Duke had been given advance no - tice of the inspection. "This ensures that our inspectors can speak to the appropriate people when we arrive" and view the appro - priate records, he said. When the inspectors ar- rived, Duke had disabled the pumps the environmen- tal group had photographed the prior day, Kritzer said. Duke had notified state regulators by phone in August that the company was going to be performing "routine main - tenance" that included using a temporary pumping system to lower water levels. Though regulators had visited in the intervening months, no issue was raised until March 11. State Wa - ter Quality Director Tom Reeder says his staff discov- ered the illegal pumping be- fore the Waterkeeper Alli- ance had released its photos. "The state's investigation revealed that the pumping activities ongoing at this plant far exceeded what would reasonably be consid - ered routine maintenance," Reeder said in an email. But the agency, which is known within the state by the acronym DENR, gave no public indication it was inves - tigating Duke until after the environmental groups went public with the photos last week, prompting widespread news media coverage. "The incident shows the importance of citizen involve - ment," said Frank Holleman, senior attorney for the South- ern Environmental Law Cen- ter. "Had the Waterkeeper Alliance not been inspecting that site, it's likely that no one would have known it was hap - pening, or DENR would not have found it until later and even more contaminated wa- ter might have been pumped into the river." It is the eighth notice of vi- olation the state has issued against Duke in less than a month. The first two, issued Feb. 28, were related to the Dan River spill. On March 3, regulators cited five Duke plants for lacking stormwa - ter permits that are required to legally discharge rainwa- ter draining from its prop- erty into a river or lake. The agency conceded it had known Duke didn't have the required permits since at least 2010, but took no ac - tion until three days after The Associated Press filed a public records request for a copy of Duke's stormwa - ter permit for the Dan River plant. There wasn't one. A federal grand jury con- vened this week in Raleigh as part of a widening crim- inal investigation triggered by the Feb. 2 ash spill. Pros- ecutors have issued at least 23 grand jury subpoenas to Duke executives and state of- ficials. ENviRONMENT Regulators: Duke put ash into river Gerry Broome — The AssociATed Press in a Feb. 5 file photo, duke energy engineers and contractors survey the site of a coal ash spill at the dan river Power Plant in eden, N.c. as state and federal environmental officials continued their investigations of the spill into the river. By Tom Krisher The Associated Press DETROiT » General Motors, beware. Wednesday's announce- ment that Toyota will pay $1.2 billion to avoid crimi- nal prosecution for hiding information in a recall case could be a glimpse into your future. It's also a warning to anyone selling cars in the U.S.: Although the federal government's road-safety watchdog doesn't have big fangs, the Justice Depart - ment does. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administra- tion's maximum fine for hiding information is $35 million, a pittance to auto- makers. But the Justice De- partment can reach deeper into your wallet and hurt your reputation with damn- ing public statements. Shortly after the an- nouncement, Attorney Gen- eral Eric Holder issued an apparent warning to GM and other automakers, say- ing the Toyota deal was "not necessarily the only time we will use this approach." General Motors Co., which is facing a federal criminal probe over delays in recall - ing small cars with a deadly ignition switch problem, has many parallels to the Toyota case. Toyota got into trouble for withholding information from NHTSA about f loor mats that can trap gas ped - als and make cars acceler- ate wildly, and for conceal- ing a problem with sticky gas pedals that can cause unwanted acceleration. Ac- cording to court records, the company recalled some mod- els for the floor mats while knowing that others had the same problem. At GM, the company has admitted knowing about the ignition-switch problem for more than a decade, yet it failed to recall 1.6 million small cars until last month. During the wait, at least a dozen people died in crashes because the faulty switches moved out of the run posi - tion, disabling power steer- ing and brakes. Air bags also didn't inflate. "We now see what GM may be facing," said Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University in Detroit and a former Justice Department prosecutor. "If you have comparable con - duct inside the company, the government is going to come down hard." The Toyota pay ment changes the model for regu- lating auto safety in the U.S. Before Wednesday, safety issues had been almost the exclusive domain of NHTSA. Now, the govern - ment has raised the stakes with criminal actions, Hen- ning said. "GM has to be concerned what kind of a hit there is go- ing to be to the bottom line," said Henning, who predicted that GM's penalty could rise toward $2 billion because its recall delays lasted lon - ger than Toyota's. The Toyota penalty is a "game changer" that will force automakers to take notice, said Clarence Dit - low, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety. "Until today, auto- makers faced insignificant fines and no criminal penal- ties," he said. Even with a $1.2 billion penalty, the bigger issue for both GM and Toyota is dam- age to reputations. Before a highly publi- cized 2009 unintended ac- celeration crash that killed a California Highway Pa- trol officer and three fam- ily members, Toyota was known by all for reliabil- ity, and it was gobbling up sales and market share in the U.S. The crash triggered the recall of more than 10 mil - lion vehicles and raised suspicions about Toyota's safety. From 2010 through 2012, NHTSA fined the com - pany a total of $66 million for safety-related violations, further harming its reputa- tion. Since the California crash, Toyota's U.S. market share has dropped more than four percentage points, to 13.3 percent last month. Today, a single point of market share equals more than 150,000 cars and trucks, the equiva - lent of millions in profits ev- ery year. And Wednesday's state- ments from the Justice De- partment likely will raise further suspicions about Toyota. In court documents, pros - ecutors said Toyota mis- led customers by assuring them that it had addressed the root cause of the acceler- ation problems, while know- ing that cars outside the re- call had the same problems. Toyota did this to defend its brand image after the Cali- fornia crash, the documents said. Toyota says it has put re- forms in place to make sure this doesn't happen again. AuTOMOBiLEs Toyota payment could be glimpse into GM's future LEGAL NOTICE NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF DON A HASC HKE CASE NO. 15051 To all heirs, beneficiaries, cred- itors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of Donald Arthur Haschke aka Don A. Haschke A Petition for Probate has been filed by Cindy Haschke in the Su- perior Court of California, Coun- ty of TEHAMA, THE PETITION FOR PROBATE requests that Cin- dy Haschke be appointed as personal representative to ad- minister the estate of the dece- dent. The petition requests the decedent¹s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are availa- ble for examination in the file kept by the court. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal repre- sentative to take many actions without obtaining court appro- val. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to inter- ested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The inde- pendent administration authori- ty will be granted unless an in- terested person files an objec- tion to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: May 5, 2014 at 1:30 p.m. in Dept. 1 located at 633 Washington Street, P.O. Box 310, Red Bluff, CA 96080. If you object to the granting of the petition, you should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or a contin- gent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative ap- pointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or per- sonal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the Cali- fornia Probate Code. Other California statues and le- gal authority may effect your i h di g y y y rights as a creditor. You may want to consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Re- quest for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inven- tory and appraisal of estate as- sets or of any petition or ac- count as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner Nancy J. Gottes 1716 Court St., #101 Redding, CA 96001 530-244-1716 Publish: March 21, 28, April 4, 2014 LEGAL NOTICE NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF Alan Louis Held CASE NO. 15039 To all heirs, beneficiaries, cred- itors, contingent creditors, and persons who may otherwise be interested in the will or estate, or both, of Alan Louis Held A Petition for Probate has been filed by Gary Held in the Superi- or Court of California, County of TEHAMA, The Petition for Pro- bate request requests that Mi- chael J. Rocke, Gary K. Held, Phi- lip D. Rocke & Claudie Held be appointed as personal represen- tative to administer the estate of the decedent. The petition requests the decedent¹s will and codicils, if any, be admitted to probate. The will and any codicils are availa- ble for examination in the file kept by the court. The petition requests authority to administer the estate under the Independent Administration of Estates Act. (This authority will allow the personal repre- sentative to take many actions without obtaining court appro- val. Before taking certain very important actions, however, the personal representative will be required to give notice to inter- ested persons unless they have waived notice or consented to the proposed action.) The inde- pendent administration authori- ty will be granted unless an in- terested person files an objec- tion to the petition and shows good cause why the court should not grant the authority. A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows: 1, located at 633 Washington Street, Rm 17, P.O. Box 911, Red Bluff, CA 96080. If you object to the granting of the petition, you h ld h h i g g p , y should appear at the hearing and state your objections or file written objections with the court before the hearing. Your appearance may be in person or by your attorney. If you are a creditor or a contin- gent creditor of the decedent, you must file your claim with the court and mail a copy to the personal representative ap- pointed by the court within the later of either (1) four months from the date of first issuance of letters to a general personal representative, as defined in section 58(b) of the California Probate Code, or (2) 60 days from the date of mailing or per- sonal delivery to you of a notice under section 9052 of the Cali- fornia Probate Code. Other Cali- fornia statues and legal authori- ty may effect your rights as a creditor. You may want to con- sult with an attorney knowl- edgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court. If you are a person interested in the estate, you may file with the court a Re- quest for Special Notice (form DE-154) of the filing of an inven- tory and appraisal of estate as- sets or of any petition or ac- count as provided in Probate Code section 1250. A Request for Special Notice form is available from the court clerk. Attorney for petitioner Craig L. Judson BOLD, POLISNER, MADDOW, NEL- SON & JUDSON 500 Ygnacio Valley Road, Suite 325 Walnut Creek, CA 94596 925-933-7777 Publish: March 7 , 14, 21, 2014 LEGAL NOTICE APN: 101-030-161 Property : 21285 Chimney Rock, Cotton- wood, CA 96022 Title Order No. : 120408028 Trustee Sale No. : 2001-005351-F01 NOTICE OF TRUSTEE'S SALE YOU ARE IN DE- FAULT UNDER A DEED OF TRUST, DATED June 16, 2006. UNLESS YOU TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY, IT MAY BE SOLD AT A PUBLIC SALE. IF YOU NEED AN EXPLANATION OF THE NATURE OF THE PROCEEDING AGAINST YOU, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LAWYER. On April 04, 2014, Sage Point Lender Serv- ices, LLC, as duly appointed Trustee WILL SELL AT PUBLIC AUCTION TO HIGHEST BIDDER FOR CASH, CASHIER'S CHECK/CASH EQUIVALENT drawn on a state or national bank, cashier's check drawn by a state or federal credit union, or a cashier's check drawn by a state or federal savings and loan association, or savings as- sociation, or savings bank speci- fied in Section 5102 of the Finan- i l d d h i d d cial Code and authorized to do business in this state, or other form of payment authorized by 2924h(b), (Payable at time of sale in lawful money of the Unit- ed States). The sale will be made, but without covenant or warranty, expressed or implied, regarding title, possession, or encumbrances, to satisfy the obligation secured by said Deed of Trust with interest and late charges thereon, as provided in said note(s), advances, under the terms of said Deed of Trust, fees, charges and expenses of the Trustee and of the trusts created by said Deed of Trust. The undersigned Trustee dis- claims any liability for any in- correctness of the property ad- dress or other common designa- tion, if any, shown herein. All right, title and interest conveyed to and now held by it under said Deed of Trust in the property sit- uated in said County and State described as: AS MORE FULLY DESCRIBED IN BELOW MEN- TIONED DEED OF TRUST Execut- ed by: Joseph Gracia, An Unmar- ried Man Recorded on June 26, 2006, as Instrument No. 2006- 013153, of Official Records, in the office of the County Recorder of Tehama County, California ? Date of Sale: April 04, 2014 at 02:00 PM Place of Sale: at the main entrance to the Tehama County Courthouse at 633 Wash- ington Street, Red Bluff, CA 96080 The street address and other common designation, if any, of the real property descri- bed above is purported to be: 21285 CHIMNEY ROCK, COTTON- WOOD, CA 96022 APN# 101-030- 161 The total amount of the un- paid balance of the obligation secured by the property to be sold and reasonable estimated costs, expenses and advances at the time of the initial publica- tion of this Notice of Sale is $265,856.39. The beneficiary un- der said Deed of Trust hereto- fore executed and delivered to the undersigned a written Dec- laration of Default and Demand for Sale, and a written Notice of Default and Election to Sell. The undersigned caused said Notice of Default and Election to Sell to be recorded in the County where the real property is located. If the Trustee is unable to convey title for any reason, the success- ful bidder's sole and exclusive remedy shall be the return of monies paid to the Trustee, and the successful bidder shall have no further recourse. If the sale is set aside for any reason, the Purchaser at the sale shall be entitled only to the return of the deposit paid. The Purchaser shall have no further recourse against the Mortgagor, the Mortgagee, or the Mortgagee's Attorne y. NOTICE TO POTENTIAL f id i y BIDDERS: If you are considering bidding on this property lien you should understand that there are risks involved in bid- ding at a trustee auction. You will be bidding on a lien, not on the property itself. Placing the highest bid at a trustee auction does not automatically entitle you to free and clear ownership of the property. You should also be aware that the lien being auctioned off may be a junior lien. If you are the highest bid- der at the auction, you are or may be responsible for paying off all liens senior to the lien be- ing auctioned off, before you can receive clear title to the property. You are encouraged to investigate the existence, priori- ty, and size of outstanding liens that may exist on this property by contacting the county re- corder's office or a title insur- ance company, either of which may charge you a fee for this in formation. If you consult either of these resources, you should be aware that the same lender may hold more than one mort- gage or deed of trust on the property. NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNER: The sale date shown on this notice of sale may be post- poned one or more times by the mortgagee, beneficiary, trustee or a court, pursuant to Section 2924g of the California Civi Code. The law requires that in- formation about trustee sale postponements be made availa- ble to you and to the public, as a courtesy to those not present at the sale. If you wish to learn whether your sale date has been postponed, and, if applicable, the rescheduled time and date for the sale of this property, you may call 855-880-6845 or visit this Internet Web site WWW.NA TIONWIDEPOSTING.COM, using the file number assigned to this case 2001-005351-F01. Informa- tion about postponements that are very short in duration or that occur close in time to the scheduled sale may not immedi- ately be reflected in the tele- phone information or on the In ternet Web site. The best way to verify postponement informa- tion is to attend the scheduled sale. Date: 3/7/14 Sage Point Lender Services, LLC 400 Ex- change, Suite 110 Irvine, CA 92602 949-265-9940 Edward Fos- ter FOR TRUSTEE'S SALE INFOR- MATION PLEASE CALL 855-880- 6845 or visit WWW.NATIONWIDE POSTING.COM SAGE POINT LENDER SERVICES, LLC MAY BE ACTING AS A DEBT COLLECTOR ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT A DEBT. ANY INFORMATION OB- TAINED MAY BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE. NPP0227996 To: DAILY NEWS (RED BLUFF) PUB: 03/14/2014, 03/21/2014 03/28/2014 Legal Notices Legal Notices Legal Notices Legal Notices Legal Notices Legal Notices Legal Notices Legal Notices Legal Notices Legal Notices | CLASSIFIEDS | redBLUFFdAiLyNeWs.com FridAy, mArch 21, 2014 8 B