Anaheim : Extension Granted for Shredder Waste Storage

An Anaheim salvage company was granted a third extension Tuesday for its storage of shredded car and appliance residue containing potentially toxic PCBs, although two City Council members expressed impatience with the firm, which has now stockpiled an estimated 44,000 tons of the “fluff” at its site.

A council decision on how to proceed against Orange County Steel Salvage Inc. was delayed until July 15. In the meantime, the Regional Water Quality Control Board will review whether the firm can dump its waste in the Brea-Olinda landfill.

State, regional and local authorities are considering enforcement action because the company has been stockpiling the materials in violation of state law.

The city may file criminal charges against the company as early as this week, City Atty. Jack White said. In March, state toxic waste officials asked the county district attorney’s office to consider criminal prosecution of the firm. The district attorney’s office turned the matter over to the city because the charges were misdemeanors, White said.

Steel Salvage owner George Adams Jr. is also subject to up to $1,000 a day in fines for failing to provide requested pollution data to the regional water board. Adams said Tuesday that he expects to have the information available today.

The firm had city permission to store shredder waste for one year, but the Planning Commission denied the firm’s request to continue storage of the material, which contains polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, a suspected carcinogen. Adams’ firm appealed the commission’s denial to the council, which granted its first extension March 18.

“I keep looking at this shredder waste and it keeps growing. We’ve been hearing something is going to happen today, tomorrow, but nothing has happened,” said Mayor Pro Tem Irv Pickler, the only council member who has consistently voted against granting the company extensions to store the waste.

On Tuesday, Pickler did not garner council support in his move to prevent the steel salvage firm from shredding altogether. But Councilman Lew Overholt pledged to join Pickler in two months if there is “no more progress and everybody is passing the buck to everybody else.”