Local News in Brief : Chemicals to Be Taken Off Site Near 4 Schools

Hazardous materials removed from science labs and stored in a Los Angeles Unified School District building near four Van Nuys schools will be moved this weekend, district officials said Friday.

Deputy Business Manager David Koch said chemicals in the Science Materials Center at 6625 Balboa Blvd., which was ordered closed Tuesday by the city Fire Department, will be taken to a hazardous waste facility in Casmalia, near Santa Barbara, as soon as district officials are allowed inside the building.

Procedures for disposal of chemicals in the building were worked out Friday by school, fire and county health officials, Koch said. International Technology Corp. of Long Beach was hired by the district to remove the chemicals.

The building, in the midst of a complex that includes the West Valley School for the handicapped, Birmingham High School, Mulholland Junior High School and Valley Alternative Magnet School, was ordered closed because of fears that the materials could pose a danger if mishandled or if the building caught fire.

The district was cited by the Health Department on Thursday for violating laws regulating the handling and transportation of the chemicals, which Koch said were removed during the year from about 150 district science labs.

Koch said it is “highly likely” that, once the materials are removed, the building will no longer be used for storing chemicals and dispensing them to school science labs.