20 Companies Pay $4,185 in Fines for Violating Air Pollution Rules

Twenty companies in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys paid $4,185 in penalties in January for alleged violations of air pollution rules, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s report of enforcement activities.

Sixteen of the cases involved violations by gas station operators of regulations intended to prevent escape of gasoline vapors, which contribute to formation of ozone, a respiratory irritant. Some of the violations involved use of torn rubber boots on gas-dispensing equipment.

Air-district officials said that in most cases station operators paid the penalties to avert court action but did not admit violating the rules.

Complaint Settled

In one of the other cases, Best Cleaners, 5540 Reseda Blvd. in Tarzana, paid a $250 penalty to settle a complaint alleging that the business emitted excessive levels of a cleaning solvent. District officials said the company was storing the solvent perchloroethylene, or PCE, in an unsealed container open to the atmosphere. Best Cleaners agreed to the settlement without admitting it was in violation.

Dee Fitzgerald Painting and Sandblasting paid a $510 fine in January and pleaded no contest in Municipal Court to charges that it produced excessive visible emissions of concrete dust at a construction project at Prairie Street and Penfield Avenue in Chatsworth. A no-contest plea is legally the equivalent of a guilty plea.

The Weber Aircraft division of Walter Kidde & Co. Inc., 2820 Ontario St., Burbank, paid $300 to settle a complaint alleging that its spray-painting operation emitted excessive chemical fumes. District officials said the company complied to standards by changing its painting process and switching to different coatings, but did not admit it had been in violation.

Complaint About Equipment

Without admitting any violations, Life Laboratories Inc., 9380 San Fernando Road, Sun Valley, paid $500 to settle an air-district complaint alleging the use of non-permitted pharmaceutical mixing equipment.

The district collected $88,750 in January from about 220 companies in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The January monthly report was the most recent wrap-up of the district’s enforcement activity. The 20 cases in the report all occurred last year.

The air district, which is based in El Monte, collected $1.4 million in penalties in 1984, or roughly 5% of its annual budget of $27.4 million.