Local News in Brief : East Valley May Be Site of Test for Hazardous Waste Disposal

The East San Fernando Valley may be used as a test area for a program to encourage businesses to properly dispose of hazardous wastes under a plan recommended Monday by a Los Angeles City Council committee.

The Public Works Committee instructed the city’s Sanitation Department to come up with a plan in which the city would require businesses in the test area to either prove they have disposed of hazardous wastes legally or pay the city a fee to haul it away.

The plan is an apparent alternative to a controversial proposal, contained in a report prepared for the Southern California Assn. of Governments, that the East Valley be considered as the site for a hazardous-waste transfer station.

The report, issued in January, said some businesses dispose of hazardous wastes illegally because of the high cost of hauling them to authorized disposal sites. The report said a transfer station would encourage businesses to dispose of the wastes legally because they could combine their wastes at the station and share in the cost of hauling.

But the idea was not well received. During the recent city elections, opponents of northeast Valley Councilman Howard Finn alleged that he favored establishment of a toxic-waste transfer station, and tried to use the issue against him. The councilman, however, denied he ever supported the idea.

On Monday, Finn, who is a member of the Public Works Committee, reiterated his opposition to such a transfer station in his district.

The committee then asked the Sanitation Department to draw up the other plan. The proposal would have to be approved by the full council before taking effect.

In an unrelated action Monday, the committee approved Finn’s proposal for another test program in his district, this one to license scavengers to remove recyclables from curbside garbage. The program would be voluntary for residents.