Oceanside

An Oceanside firm found responsible for a toxic gas leak that injured five people was cited Friday by the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District.

Allen Danzig, chief of enforcement for the control district, said that, based on his investigation of the Wednesday incident involving the J.C. Schumacher Co., the district issued a notice of violation of the California Health and Safety Code.

The company will be given 10 days to respond to the citation, which alleges creation of a public nuisance and could lead to a $1,000 fine. The company was cited and fined $1,000 for a spill of the same substance in June. A police officer suffered minor injuries.

The latest accident occurred in a small experimental laboratory at the chemical company’s factory. Schumacher officials blamed the accident on operator error and said it happened when employees replacing a valve released a small quantity of tri-bromosilane, a chemical used to make super-pure silicon for the computer industry.

The chemical reacted with moisture in the air to form a cloud of hydrogen bromide, which escaped from the building and drifted about 100 feet into a neighboring building occupied by Image Business Forms Inc., officials said.

Four workers and the plant superintendent there suffered minor skin burns.