Nevada company under investigation after dumping video goes viral
A video of unidentified men draining barrels of liquid in the Nevada desert went viral Wednesday and prompted an investigation by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection.
The 2-minute YouTube video, which gained attention on the link-sharing site Reddit, shows three unidentified men emptying a barrel of liquid beside a chain-link fence in a desert area.
JoAnn Kittrell, spokeswoman for the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which includes the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, said Thursday that Production Pattern and Foundry, a Mound House maker of aluminum castings, is under investigation. Mound House is an unincorporated community about 8 miles east of Carson City.
Kittrell said soil samples were taken from a site on the foundry’s grounds. She said the analysis will take “a few weeks” to complete.
“Once we get the results, we’ll be in a position to analyze and make decisions,” she said Thursday.
The video, which made Reddit’s front page Wednesday, had been viewed more than a million times.
SouL RebeL, who posted the video on YouTube, did not reply to a message seeking comment.
In the clip, one man, whose voice is overheard throughout and whose face appears briefly, said, “This is what we got to do or we’ll lose our jobs.”
The video shows rows of barrels — some empty of liquids but containing what appear to be burned material — next to the chain-link fence; some barrels are flattened or crushed.
A second man, referred to as Cliff, says, “This is all the sludge out of our parts washing machine — acid, all kinds of stuff. They’re making us do this.”
Craig Banko, a company spokesman, told the Nevada Appeal newspaper that the video “completely blindsided us.”
“It was a huge surprise especially to a family-run business that’s been in business over 60 years,” Banko told Nevada Appeal. “This is not our policy. This is not how we’ve done business for 60 years.”
Banko did not return several calls seeking comment. The company’s website was down Thursday.
Kittrell said Production Pattern and Foundry had no history of fines or complaints on record and was complying with the investigation.
On its LinkedIn page, Production Pattern and Foundry said it was opened in 1942 and has 51 to 200 employees.
Contact Christian Bertolaccini at cbertolaccini@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @bertolaccinic on Twitter.
