Deukmejian Concedes Toxic Cleanup Work Bent Some EPA Rules

Gov. George Deukmejian conceded Wednesday that his Administration’s toxic cleanup program may have violated some U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations but said the state actions were taken to protect “public safety” and characterized a critical EPA audit as “nit-picking.”

Deukmejian, without being specific, said his Department of Health Services sometimes was forced to “take immediate action” on toxics problems and did not always follow the letter of the EPA’s strict regulatory process.

“They took that action recognizing that it would be for the benefit of the public health and safety,” Deukmejian told reporters during a news conference at an energy project at the Kern River oil field here.

The governor, during one stop on a whirlwind tour of state alternative energy sites, said the criticism that surfaced in the EPA audit involved “very minor technical errors that perhaps the department did not fully comply with.”

But the Republican chief executive said none of the actions represented a danger to public health.

“I’m not troubled by the report at all,” he said.

In other comments, the governor again criticized Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, a Democrat who appears to be gearing up to run against Deukmejian in the gubernatorial campaign next year.

Deukmejian, who spent the day attempting to shore up his environmental credentials during campaign-like stops in Northern and Southern California, said Bradley “hasn’t really done very much in terms of carrying out any kind of energy conservation plan within the city Administration.”

Repeating a charge he has made earlier, Deukmejian said that Los Angeles is “one of the major polluters” in the state because it has discharged raw sewage into Santa Monica Bay, then sought EPA waivers that would allow it to continue its dumping operation.

During the first stop on his tour, Deukmejian saw electricity generated by steam created by the intense heat at the Earth’s core.

That came during an inspection of a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. geothermal power plant at The Geysers area about 90 miles north of San Francisco.

Then Deukmejian toured a co-generation facility here jointly operated by Texaco and Southern California Edison Co. Electricity is generated from surplus steam used to pump heavy crude oil out of the ground.

Uses Sun’s Energy

Deukmejian wound up his trip at Edison’s Solar One installation in the Mohave Desert near Barstow. The facility uses energy from the sun to heat water that creates the steam to drive electrical turbines.

Deukmejian told reporters at the Solar One facility that it is the goal of his Administration to see that new supplies of energy are “developed in an environmentally safe manner.”

Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Bradley called Deukmejian’s energy day tour “a laugh . . . a joke.”

“This is the man who took out of the budget 63% of the money that was designed to develop alternative energy sources. This the man who literally destroyed solar experiments that were going on in this state. The Legislature had to put that money back. This is the man who, at every step of the way, has tried to avoid everything except offshore oil drilling that would provide any kind of energy alternatives.

“The environmentalists know him very well,” Bradley added. “He isn’t fooling any of them.”

Reminiscent of Brown

Deukmejian’s statements Wednesday at times were reminiscent of ex-Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., an advocate of alternative energy sources who Deukmejian often has criticized.

When questioned by reporters, Deukmejian was reluctant to give credit to Brown for laying the foundation for such state-of-the-art facilities as Solar One.

He said energy development is “the responsibility of whoever is holding the governor’s office.”

Deukmejian, getting ready for his expected reelection campaign next year, traveled with a large group of aides and newsmen, arranging air and ground transportation for the reporters.

Times staff writer Janet Clayton in Los Angeles contributed to this story.