‘Illegal’ Handling of Toxic Chemicals Hinted

Firefighters battling the stubborn fire at the Larry Fricker Co. in Anaheim have found indications that the pesticide and fertilizer dealership “haphazardly stored the chemicals” and may have been illegally processing some of the compounds, a fire official said Tuesday.

Capt. Michael Rohde of the Orange County Fire Department’s hazardous materials team said it appeared that “some processing had gone on that would be considered illegal. That is under investigation by the Anaheim Fire Department at this time.”

Records show that Saturday night’s fire was the second time in recent years that a mishap at a Fricker facility forced the evacuation of nearby residents.

In August, 1981, more than 1,800 Tustin residents were evacuated from a four-square-block area around Fricker’s former plant on Newport Avenue because 3,800 gallons of 75% pure phosphoric acid leaked from a storage tank.

Five residents were treated for injuries in that incident, including two boys who discovered the spill and two county fire fighters who complained of eye irritation. The acid is used for soil treatment.

The company also was involved in chemical leaks in 1982 and 1983. The Orange County district attorney has sued the company and is seeking $1.6 million in penalties in connection with the 1982 incident.

The county has accused Fricker of illegal and negligent storage of 50 leaking barrels of chemicals that were left behind when the company moved from Tustin to Anaheim in 1982. The cleanup cost was estimated at $100,000.

On Nov. 8, 1983, other leaks of hazardous wastes were found pooled under containers left at the Tustin site after residents reported smelling “noxious odors.” The situation was called “an imminent health hazard” and county environmental health officials ordered an immediate cleanup.

IT Corp. of Long Beach was hired to remove the approximately 50 deteriorating barrels of chemicals and to excavate contaminated topsoil. In that incident, company officials agreed to shoulder about $50,000 in cleanup costs.

Last Feb. 19, the district attorney’s division of major fraud and consumer protection filed a $1.6-million suit against Fricker and its owners, alleging that the chemicals in the 1982 incident were abandoned at the site without permits required by state laws and that company officials were negligent in failing to monitor the condition of the barrels.

The suit was filed after efforts to reach a negotiated penalty settlement broke down. It was the first action to be filed in Orange County under the state Hazardous Waste Control Law. At the time, an attorney for the firm said company officials had rejected the settlement offered by the county as too costly.

Fricker, which was founded in 1939 and has a branch office in Carlsbad, relocated its headquarters to the State College Boulevard facility in the fall of 1982, reportedly because of zoning changes in Tustin.

Attorneys for Fricker said Tuesday that they will issue a statement today about the prior incidents and allegations that improper storage of chemicals may have caused Saturday night’s fire.

“Everybody in town wants a statement, so we will publish one statement to the press and the media and handle it that way,” attorney Seth Helsing said. He said neither company officials nor attorneys will be available to answer questions or be interviewed.

Despite the problems Fricker has had, John Ellis, deputy county agricultural commissioner, said Tuesday that inspection records of the firm--a state-licensed pesticide dealer--show only minor violations of storage and records requirements over the last nine years.

‘Have Been Cooperative’

Ellis said an unannounced but routine inspection of the Anaheim warehouse June 14 gave the company a clean bill of health. “In general, they are in compliance,” Ellis said. “Like anyone else, they do make mistakes, but they have been cooperative in correcting any violations.”

Ellis said that in the 1983 incident involving leaking barrels, the company had the barrels behind a locked gate in a “lean-to of sorts” with adequate warning signs posted, which met state licensing regulations governing the storage of hazardous pesticides.

Records of agricultural commission inspections of company facilities as far back as 1976 show three incidents where company officials were warned or cited for improper handling or storage of pesticides, Ellis said.

On four other occasions, company officials were warned or cited for record-keeping violations or failure to require proof of permits from farmers purchasing restricted pesticides.

Violation in 1984

In March, 1984, the company was cited for failing to require a Seal Beach vegetable farmer to provide proof that he possessed a state-issued permit before selling him an insecticide powder called thiodan, Ellis said

In November, 1983, a routine inspection found 25-pound bags of the pesticide dacthol and five-gallon cans of dimetholate, an agricultural chemical, stored improperly outdoors, where they were subject to possible leaks. The company also was cited for failure to have a warning sign posted indicating the presence of hazardous pesticides at the site.

In May, 1983, the company was found to have repackaged a pesticide in a smaller, rusting container that lacked an identifying label.

In May, 1981, the company was also found to have sold restricted pesticides to an Orange County landscaping firm that had had its restricted pesticide permit suspended.

Reports Not Filed

In 1976 and again in 1977, the company was cited for failure of an employee who did pest control spraying to complete required monthly reports on pesticide use.

Ellis characterized the violations as relatively minor in nature and said they were quickly corrected by “cooperative” company officials.

Fricker is one of about eight Orange County suppliers of hazardous chemicals and fertilizers, Ellis said. They are regulated in differing degrees for different purposes by city, county and state agencies, and generally are not required to supply updated inventory lists to any public agency.

Including Fricker, five state-licensed pesticide dealerships are located in Anaheim, two are in Santa Ana and one is in the City of Orange, according to Ellis.

Evacuees told they can return to their homes. Part I, Page 1.