OPA-LOCKA, Fla. – Police arrested a man on a felony charge Tuesday after they said he was responsible for polluting the soil with lead and other contaminants through his work at a metal recycling business in Opa-locka.
Authorities said some of the samples they tested were from liquid trickling into a canal that drains into Biscayne Bay.
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According to an arrest report from the Miami-Dade Police Department, illegal dumping unit officers and Miami-Dade Department of Environmental Resources Management staff first conducted a joint inspection of the facility, located at 3250 NW 127th St., on June 27.
Authorities said Luis Saborio, 58, identified himself as an employee who performs “multiple jobs” at the site.
“During the course of my inspection, I noticed multiple locations throughout the property that appeared to be heavily polluted,” an MDPD officer wrote in the report. “DERM took soil samples from these polluted areas and these samples were sent to their lab for testing.”
Samples from Saborio’s work area came back positive on July 26 for four pollutants, including a lead reading at more than twice the clean target level and petroleum range organics at more than 13 times the clean target level, “posing a threat to plant, human and animal life,” police wrote.
Authorities said when they came back on Tuesday, Saborio, who also resides in Opa-locka, was the only employee at the site; he claimed he was cleaning the property for a new owner.
According to the report, investigators determined Saborio was “responsible for causing pollution to this site and its surrounding areas” and arrested him on a charge of willful disregard for the environment, a third-degree felony.
He was taken to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where he was scheduled to be released on a $2,500 bond as of Wednesday.