Halaco Engineering Co. pleaded guilty on Friday to violating its probation and was ordered to shut down its smelting operations until it can show it is in compliance with its permit.

The company plans to relocate its smelting operations to Tennessee within eight months, said the company's lawyer, Arthur Fine. He did not know to which city.

Dave Gable, general manager of Halaco, declined to say where in Tennessee the company would set up its operations.

Superior Court Judge Donald Coleman ordered Halaco to shut down its operations until tests show the company is in compliance with its Air Pollution Control District operating permit.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Mitchell Disney said there are no fines attached to the violation. He said officials are more interested in protecting the air quality around Halaco's smokestack.

Halaco will be required to undergo random testing for a variety of toxic air contaminants. If the tests fail, Halaco will be forced to shut down, again, until it comes into compliance, said Disney.

In addition, Halaco will have to test its raw materials or batches of heavy metals it purchases to process from Europe, Canada and Africa, said Disney.

Fine said Halaco did tests Thursday or Friday, and the results would be known within two days. He said the company can come into compliance if it changes certain procedures in the smelting and pouring of ingots.

The judge ordered 13 conditions that Halaco needs to meet or face further legal action, including keeping the District Attorney's Office apprised of Halaco's relocation progress, according to a press release issued by the district attorney.

Gable said the relocation will mean that 20 to 25 jobs will be lost.

He said the company had 80 employees several years ago and is now down to about 20. He said he didn't know whether some of the employees would be transferred to Tennessee.

Prosecutors recently took Halaco to court alleging the company emitted twice the amount of pollution into the air than its operating permit allows. A jury found the metal-recycling company guilty of three misdemeanor counts of polluting the air around Ormond Beach in August 2003. In September, Halaco accepted three years' probation in Superior Court and agreed to pay a fine of $7,500.

In March 2002, the California Regional Water Quality Board ordered Halaco to clean up its slag pile within 10 years.

Fine said the company will have to keep the facility open to comply with the state's orders to clean up the slag pile.