Countywide : Supervisors to Review Mandatory Toxic Lists

The Board of Supervisors is about to tackle again the possibility of requiring companies in the county to report the hazardous materials they are handling and storing.

An attempt in October of 1983 to pass a hazardous materials disclosure ordinance failed when companies complained that the proposed law would require them to reveal trade secrets.

But the fire on June 22 in an Anaheim warehouse where toxic materials were stored prompted the board to look at the subject again.

Supervisor Bruce Nestande said he will ask the board next week to order the county administrative officer (CAO) to report back in 60 days on the advisability and feasibility of adopting a mandatory hazardous materials disclosure ordinance.

Nestande said he will also ask the supervisors to direct the CAO to discuss with officials of the county’s 26 cities the possibilities of drafting a uniform countywide model ordinance dealing with hazardous materials.

The CAO report would accompany the overall analysis, ordered by the board last week, of the Anaheim fire.

The county currently maintains an inventory of hazardous materials that are reported during Fire and Health Department inspections but lacks the enforcement power of a mandatory disclosure ordinance.