ANAHEIM : Chemicals Cleaned Up; Some Called Hazardous

Federal and city workers continued cleaning up hundreds of containers of improperly stored chemicals Friday at an industrial site in Anaheim.

Members of the city’s Hazardous Materials Response Team and the U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Strike Force Team began analyzing chemicals Thursday at an industrial building at 101 E. Lacy St. Officials said the cleanup, being directed by the Environmental Protection Agency, will take about a week to complete.

Some of the containers contained cyanide, acids and corrosives. Others were unidentified or in improperly marked containers, said Fire Marshal Michael Doty.

City officials had been aware of chemical storage problems at the building since March, 1985, when they filed charges of fire code and zoning violations against Edwin C. Kraemer, owner of a photo-engraving company that was leasing the building, said Deputy Fire Marshal Gail McCloud.

When it became clear that neither the building’s owner, Michael Everett, nor Kraemer was going to move the chemicals, the city became involved, Doty said. Since October, there have been several chemical spills at the site.

Doty said the chemicals could have caused a cloud of “poisonous gas.”

The cleanup, to be paid for with federal Superfund money, will cost between $100,000 and $175,000.

“This one will be passed on to the responsible parties, “ Doty said. “They’ve created a problem, and they are going to have to pay for it.”