No-Contest Plea in Carson Warehouse Fire

Virgin Scent and three company executives were sentenced on July 31 after entering no-contest pleas in a criminal environmental case tied to the 2021 warehouse fire in Carson, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors said the case centered on the improper storage of large quantities of alcohol-based hand sanitizer at the company’s warehouse and the later discharge of hazardous material into the municipal storm drain system. The Sept. 30, 2021, fire was followed by a months-long odor incident near the Dominguez Channel that affected nearby communities, according to county prosecutors and the California State Water Resources Control Board. The hearing was held in Department H of the Compton Courthouse in case TA157794. ### Who entered the no-contest pleas? Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman’s office said Virgin Scent and executives Yaakov Nourollah, Akiva Nourollah and Yehuda Nourollah each pleaded no contest in the case. The district attorney’s office said each defendant pleaded to one felony count of disposal of hazardous materials and one misdemeanor count of reckless storage of hazardous materials tied to the fire. (da.lacounty.gov) The July 31 hearing also covered three additional misdemeanor counts for each defendant, prosecutors said: unlawfully depositing hazardous materials, violating the Clean Water Act and failing to report the discharge of hazardous materials after the fire. Random Lengths News, citing the county announcement, reported the same set of pleas and identified the case as arising from the 2021 Carson warehouse fire. (da.lacounty.gov) ### What did prosecutors say happened at the Carson warehouse? The Sept. 30, 2021, fire broke out at Virgin Scent’s warehouse in Carson, where prosecutors said large quantities of alcohol-based hand sanitizer had been improperly stored. The district attorney’s office said the warehouse fire stemmed from that storage and that the remaining sanitizer was later pumped into the municipal storm drain system. (da.lacounty.gov) The Dominguez Channel became the destination for that discharge, according to prosecutors. The district attorney’s office said the illegal dumping contributed to a “rotting egg” odor that lingered for months and affected thousands of residents living near the channel. ### How broad was the fallout beyond the criminal case? The California State Water Resources Control Board said a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge imposed more than $10 million in penalties in a separate civil enforcement matter on Dec. 16, 2025, against operators of the warehouse site. (da.lacounty.gov) The water board said its investigation found large piles of alcohol-based products in burned debris outside the building and concluded that the discharge contributed to the 2021 Dominguez Channel odor incident. More than 4,000 complaints were generated during the odor episode, the water board said. The agency said residents in Carson and nearby Gardena, Wilmington, Torrance, Redondo Beach and Long Beach reported nausea, dizziness and headaches, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District found hydrogen sulfide levels reached 230 times the state nuisance standard in the area. (waterboards.ca.gov) ### What sentence did the defendants receive? Two years of formal supervised probation was imposed on Virgin Scent and the three executives, according to the district attorney’s office. Prosecutors said the sentence also included one year in county jail, suspended, and 75 hours each of community labor. Nathan Hochman said in the county statement that businesses handling hazardous materials have a duty to protect communities and the environment. (waterboards.ca.gov) He said the defendants’ conduct before, during and after the fire endangered first responders, harmed the environment and affected nearby residents. ### What happens next in the case? (da.lacounty.gov) Restitution to victims will be determined at a future hearing, according to the district attorney’s office and Random Lengths News. The criminal case was heard in Department H of the Compton Courthouse under case number TA157794. Random Lengths News reported the plea-and-sentencing development alongside a separate July 31 announcement of more than $2 million in federal funding for Los Angeles’ CIRCLE crisis-response program. (da.lacounty.gov) The funding item was reported as a separate city initiative and not as part of the criminal case. (randomlengthsnews.com)