Tracking Hazards

It all began with Bhopal--the city in India in which a disastrous leak of deadly chemicals killed more than 2,000 people two years ago.

In California, the Legislature responded by enacting a law requiring enterprises that store or use hazardous materials to file “business emergency-response plans” that include inventories of chemicals, employee training in their use and plans for responding to chemical emergencies. The state law applies to large handlers of hazardous materials in more than modest quantities--exceeding 55 gallons, 500 pounds or 200 cubic feet.

The deadline for filing is Dec. 31.

In Los Angeles, Bhopal’s message was further brought home after a fire last year in a Sun Valley chemical warehouse. This prompted the late Councilman Howard Finn to introduce the city’s new “Community Right to Know Law,” an ordinance that requires all city businesses using hazardous substances to disclose their chemical inventory to the Los Angeles Fire Department--also by Dec. 31.

The task is huge: The Los Angeles Fire Department estimates that a third of the city’s 265,000 businesses will have to file inventories and pay the $75 fee to finance compilation and maintenance by the department of a computerized master inventory.

Information on the new disclosure legislation is available at local fire stations throughout the state. Applications in Los Angeles are available at the city clerk’s main and branch offices, though nearly 50,000 applications were mailed in October--to the surprise of many. (The Fire Department received nearly 2,000 calls from perplexed or vexed business people, reports Norman Pate, an inspector in the department’s hazardous materials section.)

So far, at least one seminar has been conducted on the subject. Councilman Richard Alatorre and the Business and Economic Development Council of Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights and El Sereno collaborated on a two-hour seminar aimed at Alatorre’s Eastside constituents, who live in an area with more than 2,500 businesses that could be affected by the disclosure laws.

While just a fraction of the city’s total, 20% of the area’s manufacturing companies are metal finishers, according to the council. Typically, it said, these are small businesses that occupy “often antiquated and inefficient” facilities, are family run and employ an average of 50 people.

While the new disclosure forms add an additional cost of doing business, Alatorre told an audience of about 100, existence of a computerized inventory of hazardous materials will benefit the community in the longer run.

The California Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business FACTS coalition will conduct a similar seminar, for $40, at 9 a.m. Dec. 2 in the City of Commerce Hyatt Hotel. The contact is Faye Peterson, telephone (916) 444-6670.

Northridge Hospital Tox Center, 18300 Roscoe Blvd., also plans to offer seminars, for $75, at 8 a.m. Dec. 3 and Dec. 9. Contact Marj Mitchell, (818) 885-5329.