2nd-Quarter Accounting : Air Polluters Pay $25,565 in Fines

Companies from the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys paid $25,565 to settle air-pollution citations during the second quarter of 1986, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Newhall Refining Co. of Newhall paid $7,000, topping the list of 71 firms that paid penalties or made settlements from April through June, according to the most recent quarterly summary compiled by the air district.

The second-highest payment during the period was $1,700, by Mission Foods Corp. of Canoga Park.

The Newhall settlement, paid in May, involved 13 violation notices issued in 1984 and 1985. The citations accused the oil refinery of emitting excessive amounts of sulfur, hydrocarbons and smoke, and of causing a public nuisance because of odors.

More Citations Pending

Still pending against the company are a dozen more citations issued from April through August of this year, also alleging excessive discharge of sulfur and odors. An air-district hearing board in September granted the company a temporary variance from sulfur-emission rules to give it time to improve its pollution-control equipment.

The Mission Foods case involved citations for excessive odors in 1985.

The air district referred the citations to the Los Angeles city attorney’s office to be prosecuted as criminal misdemeanors. The company, which produces corn and flour tortillas and tortilla chips, entered a no-contest plea in May and agreed to pay the $1,700, an air-district official said.

The firm is in the process of installing pollution-control equipment on smokestacks at its plant, said its general manager, George Funk.

11 in Van Nuys

Of the area companies penalized during the three months, Van Nuys had the most, 11. Eight of the companies were in Burbank and 7 in North Hollywood. Canoga Park, Chatsworth and North Hollywood each had 5, according to air-district statistics.

The El Monte-based air district enforces air-quality standards for industries and other stationary pollution sources in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Districtwide, 852 cases were resolved during the second quarter by $337,232 in penalty payments, the air district said. Penalty payments during the first quarter of the year totaled about $376,000.