Heat Slows Cleanup of Toxic Fire Site

Eight truckloads of contaminated debris were hauled away from the site of an Anaheim pesticide warehouse fire early Tuesday but soaring temperatures slowed emergency cleanup operations, an official for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said.

Meanwhile, attorneys for the fertilizer and pesticide supplier, the Larry Fricker Co., demanded Tuesday that authorities determine within 24 hours that no health hazard exists and call a halt to the expensive and “ultraprecautionary” measures being taken by cleanup crews. If not, the company said, it will bring in independent consultants.

In a letter to federal, county and city officials sent Tuesday, Fricker attorney Duffern H. Helsing said that “unnecessary” precautions could result in “improper” damage suits and cleanup costs to the company. He also asked that company officials be granted access to the 5,000-square-foot building to resume business operations.

Entry Barred

However, an Anaheim fire official said Tuesday that no one else would be allowed onto the Fricker property while the cleanup was in progress and arson investigators were examining the building for the cause of the fire.

The fire, called Orange County’s worst environmental emergency, began shortly before 10:44 p.m. June 22, spewing toxic fumes into the air and triggering fears of chemical explosions.

Ultimately, more than 7,500 residents of Anaheim, Fullerton and Placentia were evacuated over a four-day period, two freeways were closed temporarily and the Coast Guard Pacific Strike Team was summoned to aid local firefighters, who battled unsuccessfully for 36 hours to bring the smoldering blaze under control.

The hot weather was causing new problems for cleanup crews, said Tom Severino, the EPA’S on-site coordinator.

“As the temperature goes up, we’re starting earlier,” Severino said Tuesday. “As it gets hotter, we don’t let them spend more than one hour (at a time) in the warehouse.

The crew of eight Strike Team members, six contract workers from a Portland environmental cleanup firm and two EPA chemical specialists has been working in protective rubberized suits and filtration masks to guard against exposure to the fire debris as it is removed, tested and prepared for disposal.

“When it’s 100 degrees outside, it’s about 150 degrees inside those suits,” Severino said, adding that each worker is monitored three times daily for potential effects from exposure to harmful chemicals and the heat. Also, the cleanup work is beginning at 4 a.m. and ending at midday, when temperatures are peaking.

The first shipment of eight truckloads of debris and fertilizers contaminated with toxic pesticides were hauled Tuesday to the Casmalia landfill in Santa Barbara County, the closest disposal site licensed to receive such hazardous waste.

But Severino revised his earlier estimate that the task would be finished by Friday, saying now that he expects the cleanup to be completed by next Tuesday. He added that he was seeking authorization for a $100,000 emergency disbursement from the federal Superfund, bringing the EPA’s estimated costs to $200,000. The cleanup crew will work on the Fourth of July, take a break Friday and then work through the weekend.

The heat has also caused problems for arson investigators, who have been allowed inside the warehouse after cleanup crews finish, provided they wear protective gear.

Anaheim Fire Inspector Michael Doty and Anaheim Police Detective Bob Potts were overcome by the heat last weekend, according to Deputy Fire Marshal Gail McCloud. Both men were allowed to cool down, then were sent home for the day while others continued the investigation.

Fire officials have said that the blaze, which was believed to have started in a front office cubicle and which spread to about 30% of the building, was “suspicious” in origin. Arson investigators, including two specialists from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms bureau, have been examining the premises since late Saturday.

Lawsuits Filed

McCloud said the city attorney has ordered that the findings of the investigation and determination of the cause of the fire not be made public because Anaheim has been named in at least two multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuits filed on behalf of evacuated residents and businesses.

Meanwhile, health officials confirmed Tuesday that a second man had been hospitalized as a result of exposure to the chemical fumes, apparently after he illegally entered the evacuation zone during the fire.

Dimitrois Droulas of La Habra was admitted to Anaheim Memorial Hospital for complaints of wheezing, watery eyes, chest pain and lightheadedness last Wednesday, the day after most residents were allowed to return to their homes and businesses.

Health officials at first were concerned that toxic fumes might still be permeating the air. But they later determined that Droulas had been in the evacuation zone for several hours during the fire, working at a store a little more than a block downwind from the warehouse, according to Dr. Philip Edelman, head of the regional poison control center at the UCI Medical Center and Anaheim’s special adviser on the fire’s toxic effects.

“He apparently was there for several hours and got a good breath of the stuff,” Edelman said. Droulas was discharged from the hospital the following day in “improved” condition, hospital officials said.

Effects Short-Lived

Health officials said they are not expecting any long-term health effects for residents, firefighters and police officers exposed to the fumes, primarily because what they were exposed to--nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide, commonly found in smog and in most fires--do not have any lasting effects on the body except in large quantities.

Most of those who complained of the most severe symptoms--lung irritation and wheezing--either had prior lung conditions such as asthma or were heavy smokers, Edelman added.

Blood tests on firefighters, police officers, California Highway Patrol officers and residents exposed to the fumes “haven’t shown anything suggestive of anything out of the ordinary” so far, Edelman said.

In all, 40 exposure victims were treated at area hospitals, nearly all of them for throat irritation, coughing and headaches.

Despite the health complaints from some, McCloud said that city officials were receiving complaints from residents who argue that the evacuation was unnecessary and that there was no risk to health.

Edelman defended the decision to evacuate the nearly three-square-mile industrial and residential area.

Danger Cited

“People did have symptoms in the initial evacuation area,” he said, referring to the original mile-square zone that was evacuated early on June 23. The area was more than doubled the following afternoon because winds were spreading toxic fumes from the smoldering fertilizer and pesticides.

“The evacuation zone was appropriate, and we did prevent other people from getting respiratory problems,” Edelman said.

Moreover, he argued that the risk of a life-threatening toxic cloud emerging in the event of a chemical explosion was reason enough to evacuate the area. Firefighters would not have had sufficient time to evacuate people after the fact, he said.

“At some point, you have to err on the side of safety,” Edelman said.

In other action Tuesday, Fricker attorneys for the first time released a complete list of chemicals that had been stored in the warehouse to city officials. Based on the findings of the company’s experts, company officials do not believe the site is hazardous now, and that use of the protective gear is escalating costs unnecessarily.

“To minimize our exposure, and to minimize the city’s exposure, we’re trying to cooperate by giving a list of chemicals and materials on the property, which has been frankly kind of a question mark since the records were destroyed in the office,” Fricker attorney Helsing said in an interview.

“We’re trying to give them information that will show them they do not need to continue to keep people out of their businesses, and things like that. We think it’s overkill to continue using the ‘moonsuits.’ ”

In the letter to city officials, the lawyer said continued closure of surrounding businesses exposes both Fricker and the city to added legal liability in terms of damages. Moreover, he argued that Fricker officials should be allowed back into the warehouse.

“We can’t do business without having access to the property, and obviously, every day that we’re closed down, it’s costing us money,” Helsing said.

“Our point is, there’s nothing out there that should require people to be out there with ‘moonsuits.’ We have volunteered to go out there and help them with the cleanup and investigation. . . . What we’re trying to do is expedite this thing, particularly in light of the fact that some of the other businesses nearby have continued to be closed down.”

Businesses Reopen

However, fire and health officials said that except for Fricker, all businesses have been allowed to resume full or partial operations, or have temporarily relocated operations elsewhere. The last two closed businesses, Universal Plumbing Center and Pacific Auto Imports, resumed operation Monday after agreeing not to open rear doors that are next to the Fricker warehouse.

Helsing said company officials did not wish to interfere with the ongoing arson investigation.

“As a matter of fact, we have done everything we can to encourage the arson investigation and assist in any way we can to make sure it’s cleared up as quickly as possible,” he said. “We feel that the arson investigation may well disclose that the fire was started by a third party.”