Orange Approves Hazardous Materials Reporting Law

One month after a leak of cancer-causing material at a chemical plant forced the evacuation of about 300 people, the Orange City Council on Tuesday tentatively approved a measure requiring businesses to disclose any hazardous materials they handle.

Irvine is the only other city in Orange County to have such an ordinance, which is designed to make it easier for authorities to respond to spills and fires involving hazardous substances.

The county Board of Supervisors is also expected to consider such an ordinance after a Fire Department report is completed next month.

In Anaheim, where a toxic fire at a pesticide warehouse caused the evacuation of 7,500 people this summer, city officials are awaiting the county report before considering a similar ordinance.

The Orange City Council has scheduled final action on the ordinance for Sept. 10 and, if approved, the ordinance would go into effect 30 days later. The vote Tuesday was unanimous.

Companies using more than 50 gallons or 500 pounds of hazardous material each year in the city of Orange will have to file reports with the Fire Department every six months. Fire Chief Martel Thompson will set a fee of no more than $50 which the businesses will have to submit with each report.

Fire Division Chief Doug Flaherty said the city has been working on the ordinance in conjunction with the Orange County Fire Department for about two months. He added that the move was not prompted by the July 29 spill at Fiberite West Coast Corp. but said that the incident served to underscore the need for regular reporting.

A 6,000-gallon underground tank last month leaked a carcinogenic material that formed a cloud inside the plant at 645 N. Cypress St., but firefighters managed to erect screens at the entrance to the plant to contain the substance to the premises, Flaherty said.

“It certainly could have posed a health threat,” he said, adding that a preliminary investigation indicates that the firm is not at fault.

In 1984, Fiberite paid a reported $5 million to 28 people who filed lawsuits after a cloud of steam and chemicals escaped from the plant and drifted over nearby Richland High School and Killifer Child Development Center.

Flaherty said the disclosure law is significant as one of the early signs of a growing awareness of hazardous materials. “This isn’t just the City of Orange’s problem,” he said. “It’s a city, state and national concern.”

The city inspects each occupied business in Orange annually, he said, and the ordinance would not change that schedule.

The law is expected to affect about 500 businesses. About 200 of those are considered major users and are listed as “hazardous occupancies,” according to Flaherty. They include chemical, metal etching and other heavy industrial firms. The reports will be compiled into a reference source available to Fire Department and other city officials.

In Anaheim, spokeswoman Sheri Erlewine said officials are waiting for the county’s analysis of a disclosure law.

“It’s a matter of time what kind of information and how we want to gather it from our businesses. But we will definitely be asking for more information from our businesses that have potentially dangerous chemicals,” Erlewine said.