Investigators arrested an executive Wednesday as part of a lengthy probe into a chemical explosion at a waste facility in Riverbank that injured a sanitation worker.
Phillip Whitmore, manager of Advanced Material Manufacturing Technology LLC, was arrested on suspicion of the illegal storage, transportation and disposal of several barrels containing highly flammable powdered aluminum and magnesium.
Allegedly, the 55-gallon barrels holding the material were put in a normal garbage bin, then picked up and taken to a waste facility by Gilton Solid Waste Management. The barrels ignited at the facility on March 27, 2025…