A member of the California municipal council faces federal accusations for having allegedly organized a SUV filled with the chemical element that Mercury has moved without appropriate precautions.
Federal authorities arrested Michael Kulikoff, 39, from California City on Tuesday on an indictment for charges related to poor transport of hazardous waste and to “place another person in imminent danger of deaths or serious bodily injury”.
Allegations focus on a mercury exposure incident in a Wash Wash Kulikoff possessed. Kulikoff is the professional mayor of California City, located about 100 miles north of Los Angeles.
Kulikoff, who was released after his arrest, did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The mayor of California City, Marquette Hawkins, published a statement that said that “the health and safety of our residents are always our highest priority, and we take these allegations with the greatest seriousness”.
Hawkins stressed that “each individual is presumed innocent until his guilt is proven in court”.
“We are actively working to ensure that city operations continue without disruption and that public confidence remains strong throughout this difficult moment,” said Hawkins. “All measures necessary to protect the public interest and maintain ethical standards will be taken in accordance with the law.”
According to the indictment, in February 2024, Kulikoff learned that an individual, identified only as “a person”, had overturned a pot holding several ounces of mercury inside the cabin of an SUV.
Also known as Quicksilver, mercury is a neurotoxin that can affect the nervous system and kidneys, according to centers for disease control and prevention. When the metal mercury is inhaled, it can cause tremors, headaches and neuromuscular changes.
After the spill, said the indictment, the SUV driver tried to use a vacuum cleaner in Kulikoff’s car washing to clean the spill.
The individual then led the SUV to their mother, near a school bus stop, and called 911 after having experienced symptoms of exposure to mercury, according to the indictment.
When the city’s emergency services responded and scanned the SUV, the authorities said they had detected the eligible limit of mercury inside the cabin. They put yellow adhesive tape around the vehicle and closed the car washing company due to the contaminated vacuum cleaner.
According to the indictment, Kulikoff tried to clean the company itself, but the emergency services told him that he had to stop because it was a scene of dangerous and was dangerous.
The next day, prosecutors accuse, Kulikoff returned to the scene and obtained a quote from an environmental service company to clean the mercury. He would then have sent a video to his brother, then the mayor of California City, via Facebook.
“So they have led him right now and record it, but this mother – (is) will lead her to Boron at the moment,” Kulikoff told her brother, according to the indictment.
Later in the day, court documents say that the Emergency Services personnel left the SUV to respond to a fire that turned out to be a false report. Upon their return, the SUV left.
The authorities say that Kulikoff has plotted with another person to move the contaminated SUV outside the city. He would have ordered this person to drive the vehicle to the City of Kern de Boron because he wanted it outside the jurisdiction of California City.
Kern County Emergency Staff found the SUV at the home of the individual who had moved it. The driver, who is not identified or charged, has also complained of symptoms related to exposure to mercury.
The environmental service company has corrected the SUV and, in doing so, detected high levels of mercury and recovered the solid mercury, according to the indictment.
If he is convicted, Kulikoff risks up to five years in prison and a fine of $ 250,000 for a conspiracy to transport hazardous waste and up to 15 years in prison and a fine of $ 50,000 per day for having placed another person in imminent danger.
California Daily Newspapers
