Bill Would Speed Toxic Waste Cleanups : Dannemeyer Would Exempt Projects From Lengthy Local Review

Seeking to avoid what he calls “paralysis by analysis,” Rep. William E. Dannemeyer on Thursday introduced legislation in Congress to exempt hazardous waste cleanup projects from lengthy local environmental review.

“Basically, the congressman’s logic and reason for this is found in the instance of McColl dump,” said David Ellis, a spokesman for the Fullerton Republican. “That excavation is years behind because of bureaucratic over-review and now we’re seeing the whole issue enter the court system.

“He (Dannemeyer) feels the bureaucracy’s microscopic inspection of the whole issue is adequate to deal with any concerns that might exist whether they refer to McColl or Buttonwillow,” he said.

The McColl waste--mostly World War II-vintage refinery acid sludges and oil field drilling mud --has been scheduled to be removed from Fullerton to a dump near the Kern County community of Buttonwillow.

Court Ruling Due Soon

Kern County officials went to court seeking an injunction to halt the state Department of Health Services from placing the McColl wastes at Buttonwillow, a town of 1,200 residents about 30 miles west of Bakersfield.

The county won a temporary restraining order against the project on May 10, and five days of hearings in Bakersfield Superior Court on whether to make that injunction permanent concluded Thursday. Judge H. Walter Croskey has said he expects to hand down his ruling by the end of the month.

Dannemeyer’s resolution would amend the Superfund Act of 1980 so that toxic materials from federally designated waste sites can be removed to federally approved disposal sites without being subject to local review, in this case under the California Environmental Quality Act, according to Ellis.

Although Dannemeyer’s resolution faces a lengthy approval process, Ellis said, it could still have an impact on the McColl cleanup if the project becomes involved in a lengthy environmental review.