Santa Monica pottery store apologizes after employees seen dumping solution into storm drain

A popular Santa Monica pottery store has apologized after a recently gone viral video shows two of their employees dumping what looked to be chemicals down a storm drain heading straight to the ocean.

The video, captured by a Santa Monica native Cisco Quintana, shows as a bright-colored liquid is poured down a drain on Main Street on Tuesday. Above the drain, clearly painted in all-capitalized and bold blue letters: "No dumping. This drains to ocean."

When finished, the two walk by Quintana without sparing a second glance as they walk back into the store.

"It's, like, really a slap in the face to me growing up in Santa Monica, going to that beach my whole life," Quintana said. "This is a big deal, it's a huge deal. Being a plumber, I know it wasn't that long before that drain started getting clogged."

Color Me Mine, located at 2525 Main Street, took to social media to address the issue which has sparked outrage across the nation. 

"We at Color Me Mine want to give our deepest apologies and take accountability for our employees' actions," said the statement issued on Instagram. "These actions were not enforced, condoned, nor recommended by management nor ownership. ... We are ashamed that such a huge mistake was caused by one of our own."

They say that the liquid being poured down the drain was not chemicals, despite popular belief, and that it was "non toxic, water based, and soluble" glaze. 

"Mind you, this does not excuse it from being dumped into the storm drain," the statement said, noting that they have already contacted Santa Monica city officials to pay for fines and the cleanup process. The amount of the pending fines remains unclear.

Additionally, store ownership says that the employees in the video have been reprimanded and all staff have been retrained on the proper way to dispose of glaze. 

"It was shocking," said Santa Monica Mayor Phil Brock. "I immediately forwarded it to our city administration for action. ... We're desperately trying to get our storm drains, everything, to make sure that our water is clean enough for people to swim in, for fish to live in — this doesn't help."

Since the video has gone viral, the employees have reportedly received threats of violence and even some of death, Color Me Mine ownership says.