Unocal to Meet With Public on Study of Air Quality Measures

Residents who have complained about emissions from the Union Oil Co. of California chemical plant will have a chance to voice their complaints and discuss a recent study with company officials Wednesday night.

With the completion of a $250,000 study, Unocal officials told council members earlier this month that they have enacted some mitigation measures and emergency plans, with others in the planning stages.

The company has been cited nine times in the past year for various violations, including one citation for ammonia leaks, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Residents have complained for years of ammonia smells emanating from the plant.

Representatives of the air quality district testified before the City Council in 1972 and again in 1975 that building homes close to the plant would add to the complaints made by homeowners who already were living west of the plant, a district official has said.

Tests by the district in February and September “didn’t find much in regard to ammonia concentration,” a district official said. The tests showed an acceptable reading of ammonia in the air around the facility, he said.