PCB Probe Should Be Widened, Firm Says

Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical, accused of at least partial responsibility for high levels of cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls in San Diego Bay, said Thursday it would encourage water-quality officials to investigate other possible sources of the PCB pollution.

The giant defense contractor, one of the largest in San Diego, declined to say whether it accepts partial blame for the contamination. Executives for the firm said simply that they would cooperate with the California Regional Water Quality Control Board in its investigation.

“The company intends to work with the board’s staff to investigate potential contamination in storm drains at our facility, and in that regard to encourage the board to investigate other potential sources of suspected PCB contamination in the Convair lagoon area,” said spokesman Jack Broward, reading a prepared statement.

Asked to elaborate, Broward would say only, “Well, there are many sources in San Diego Bay that may well have contributed to what has been identified in the report.”

The report by the staff of the water-quality board on Wednesday concluded that Teledyne Ryan had discharged PCBs into storm drains feeding into the bay’s Convair Lagoon. PCB levels in the lagoon are said to be among the highest ever found along the California coast.

Investigators also found PCBs in storm drains from General Dynamics Convair Division, a nearby defense contractor that has used equipment containing PCBs. However, the report said the levels there were lower and some of the drains did not feed into the lagoon.

Jack Isabel, a spokesman for General Dynamics, said Thursday that company officials would not comment on the water-quality officials’ allegations until they had had a chance to study the report.

Similarly, Broward said Teledyne Ryan officials would withhold any detailed reaction to the allegations until Tuesday, when they are scheduled to appear before the full Regional Water Quality Control Board to respond to the charges.

“We are currently analyzing the report and will develop recommendations for the board’s consideration at its Tuesday July 29 meeting,” Broward’s statement said.

The board’s staff is recommending that the board order Teledyne Ryan to clean up any contaminated sediments from its storm drains and sumps, and that further sampling be done in the drains of Teledyne Ryan and General Dynamics.

The staff is also recommending that the board consider referring the case to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and possibly to state and county law-enforcement officials to investigate whether the company should be prosecuted.

Michael Aguirre, a former assistant U.S. attorney running for a seat on the City Council, said he filed legal notice Thursday with the water board and the county Department of Health Services urging them to “take the appropriate enforcement action” to compel the responsible parties to clean up the PCBs under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

David Barker, a senior engineer with the water board, said the staff would hold off on ordering a cleanup of the contaminated sediments in the lagoon until it had determined whether any other firms might have been responsible for the pollution.

PCBs are man-made chlorinated hydrocarbons used for many years as fluids in transformers and capacitors. Their production was banned in 1978 in light of evidence of their toxicity, but they can still be found in equipment manufactured before 1978.

Though the PCB levels found in tissue of mussels placed in the lagoon exceeded the federal standard for safe eating, environmental and health officials say they believe the contamination poses no threat to human health.

However, officials say people should not eat shellfish caught in the lagoon, which is north of the Coast Guard station off Harbor Drive and opposite the southeastern end of Harbor Island.