Countywide : Prompt Notification of Toxic Spills Requested

Local officials have been ordered to remind businesses dealing in toxic materials of their responsibility to promptly notify health, safety and environmental authorities in the event of a spill.

The order by the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board was prompted by concern that Orange County health authorities were not told immediately of a major failure at a Chino sewage treatment plant last month.

It was later discovered, board officials said, that 2,000 pounds of chromium had been illegally dumped into the Chino sewer system. The highly toxic metal destroyed biological treatment operations and forced the Chino plant to send thousands of gallons of only partially treated sewage down the Santa Ana River for a few days after the Jan. 6 incident.

In one stretch of the Santa Ana River, water percolates underground and recharges water supplies for Orange County.

Regional board officers did notify Orange County health officials a day later. The discharges caused no apparent adverse health effects. But board member Timothy Johnson of Redlands said the incident illustrated the need for everyone to be reminded of their obligation to notify authorities.

Johnson asked that reminders be sent as soon as possible to the more than 4,000 companies with underground storage tanks, and to other appropriate agencies.