A group of federal, state and local law enforcement officials
recently raided a munitions manufacturer that they believe was
operating without permits, but the company’s owner denies any
wrongdoing.
Hollister – A group of federal, state and local law enforcement officials recently raided a munitions manufacturer that they believe was operating without permits, but the company’s owner denies any wrongdoing.
The company, MK Ballistic Systems, is located outside Hollister’s city limits on Santa Ana Road and sells less than lethal munitions – such as bean bags and rubber bullets – to law enforcement agencies across the country, including the federal government.
Officials from San Benito County District Attorney John Sarsfield’s office were joined by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Department of Toxic Substance Control, the Hollister-Gilroy California Highway Patrol and the Monterey County Sheriff’s Department in serving a search warrant on the company last Tuesday.
No arrests have been made at this time, and Sarsfield said he would wait until the investigation had been completed before deciding whether or not to file charges.
“They found a variety of improperly stored explosives, legal weapons and one illegal firearm,” Sarsfield said Monday. “Some of the explosives had to be detonated on-site because they could not be safely moved.”
Michael Keith, CEO of MK Ballistics Systems, was “stunned” by the raid, he said. He believes he was operating his company with all the proper permits, but admitted some of the explosives were stored improperly. He said the site – which sits on seven rural acres of land – was later cleaned up and poses no safety risks. Keith also said that his company never had the explosives that law enforcement officers came to find.
“They came out here asking what we did with 4,000 pounds of nitroglycerin,” he said. “They could have come here and asked to see whatever they wanted – they didn’t need to do the whole search thing. They thought we had nitro and that’s why they responded in that way.”
MK Ballistics never had nitroglycerin, but did have a quantity of M30 propellant – an ingredient of which is nitroglycerin, Keith said. Nitroglycerin is a highly dangerous and unstable explosive chemical compound used in the manufacture of explosives such as dynamite.
While Keith is confident his company is in the clear, Sarsfield said MK had also been operating without proper permits for storing, handling and disposing of toxic waste, issued by the Department of Toxic Substance Control.
“They are running operations, but they were not subject to any regulation until we got out there,” Sarsfield said. “It’s a risk to the people who work there.”
The raid was part of a wider crackdown on polluters, Sarsfield said.
“It’s a push for environmental safety,” he said. “We’ve been increasing our efforts in that regard for the last three years and we will continue to do so. We are taking a hard look at any company that potentially endangers the lives of the public and their employees.”
Sarsfield said the improperly stored explosives did not pose a risk to the general public because of the company’s remote location, but could have been dangerous to the company’s employees. The site has since been cleaned up.
“It’s been rendered safe for now,” Sarsfield said. “But we don’t know if there is contamination.”
However, Keith adamantly denied allegations that his company’s actions polluted the environment.
“There is no contamination from our operations,” he said. “I don’t believe it’s contaminated, but the water quality people had found trace chemicals in the water supply. If there was an exposure, it was from a company that was here in the 1960s.”
The site on which MK Ballistics operates has been used by several different companies over the past 50 years, Keith said. MK Ballistics has been operating without complaint on the property for 14 years, he said.
Details of the search warrant have not be returned to the court and were not available to the public as of press time.
“The investigation is ongoing,” Sarsfield said. “No one has been accused of any crimes. The DTSC will finish up their investigation and once all that information is compiled we will decide what, if any, charges to file.”
Brett Rowland covers education for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
