Governor Asks Inquiry Into Toxic Waste Pacts

Gov. George Deukmejian, reacting to an FBI investigation of state hazardous waste cleanup contracts, on Friday requested the legislative auditor general to conduct a parallel “full examination” of Department of Health Services contracting procedures.

The governor, saying he wants to “satisfy the Legislature’s interest in this subject,” pledged his full support in uncovering any problems in his Administration’s handling of the toxics program.

The unusual call by a governor for a legislative investigation came amid mounting political problems in the Democratic-controlled Legislature concerning Republican Deukmejian’s efforts to revamp the organization of various state agencies responsible for toxics cleanup.

The federal investigation began after a Riverside family complained that the state was trying to cover up its handling of a case involving the death of a 4-year-old boy who lived within a mile of the Stringfellow Acid Pits dump site near Riverside.

Individuals contacted by the FBI told The Times that the investigation goes beyond the Stringfellow case into the question of whether contractors are overcharging the state, and ultimately the federal Superfund program, for toxic cleanup.

In asking for the auditor general’s investigation, Deukmejian said: “I want to be confident, and I know the Legislature wants to be confident, in the quality and integrity of the state’s hazardous waste cleanup program.”

‘Parallel Inquiry’

Deukmejian said the “parallel inquiry” he wants by Auditor General Thomas Hayes should focus on the state’s contracting procedures and determine how far the Department of Health Services’ Toxic Substances Control Division has gone in correcting problems pointed out in earlier audits of department records.

The auditor general’s office is nonpartisan and operates under the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, a government watchdog agency of the Legislature. Deukmejian’s request was believed to be the first time a governor has asked for an auditor general’s investigation.

Committee Chairman Art Agnos (D-San Francisco) was in Colombia, but Hayes said he expects the committee to authorize the investigation within the next few weeks.

Deukmejian’s attempts to get a tighter grip on the burgeoning political and public health issue of toxic wastes were underscored Thursday when Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), angry over Deukmejian’s recent statements blaming Democrats for blocking his toxics reorganization plans, strongly suggested that the Legislature may retaliate by killing the Administration’s latest toxics reorganization proposal.

Brown warned: “Come January, we may very well kill his reorganization plan.”

That likely would be a serious setback for Deukmejian as he runs for reelection.

‘Blaming Democrats’

“The governor has decided to go out and exploit (the toxics issue) for political purposes, blaming us as Democrats and Willie Brown,” the Speaker told reporters. “If that is going to happen, I am going to tell the world what’s wrong with his reorganization plan.”

The plan, intended to centralize under a single agency all departments that have a hand in regulating waste, is a high priority issue for Deukmejian, who considers toxics among the most pressing of the state’s problems. One reorganization was killed in the Assembly earlier this year and a second attempt fell victim to partisan wrangling on the last night of the Legislature’s 1985 session.

In a major speech on Wednesday to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Deukmejian, repeating charges he has made in recent campaign-style appearances, lashed out at Brown for his role in holding up the toxics plan and announced his intention to form a blue-ribbon task force to help him deal with the toxics issue.

Disclosure of the FBI investigation gave Brown and other critics new ammunition to use against Deukmejian as the 1986 election year approaches.