Council Vote Delays Toxic Burning at Incinerator

City of San Diego veto-power over the start of burning operations at a controversial hazardous-waste incinerator in La Jolla was extended Tuesday for four months.

The San Diego City Council vote to extend the soon-to-expire emergency legislation was unanimous, as were sentiments of the audience--La Jolla residents and environmentalists who look to the city as their last hope for halting the experimental burning of toxic materials.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted GA Technologies a permit to begin experimental burning of hazardous materials. State health authorities announced last week plans to issue a permit allowing operators of the facility to conduct test burns on as many as 365 days in five years.

Limits Set

Under the state permit, no more than 150 55-gallon drums of solid material--for example, soil contaminated with cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other toxins--could be incinerated during each test burn.

In addition, officials with the state health department’s Toxic Waste Substances Control Division have tentatively concluded that an environmental impact report on the incinerator is unnecessary.

Both state decisions have outraged opponents of the incinerator, among them the Environmental Health Coalition, a local nonprofit group that seeks to educate the public on toxic issues.

Diane Takvorian, director of the coalition, says an environmental study is needed because there is conflicting information on the facility’s health effects.

Effects Feared

Edward Gorham fears the incinerator would serve as a magnet for hazardous waste handlers around the country looking for a solution to their disposal problems.

The City Council imposed the emergency ordinance in October. It requires the company to obtain a city use permit before operating the incinerator.

Concerned La Jolla residents’ groups and environmentalists urged the city controls, in addition to state and federal requirements, to keep watch on the potentially hazardous operation.

Concern intensified when its operators filed last fall for state and federal permits to begin operations.

New Owners

Last year, Chevron Corp. announced plans to sell GA Technologies and its toxic-waste incinerator operation, located on a 120-acre site on Torrey Pines Mesa near UC San Diego, to a Denver-based firm, Ogden Environmental Services. The new owners announced their intent to generate “rapid implementation and commercialization” of existing operations.

Under the city’s emergency ordinance, which extends through September, GA or any other firm proposing similar operations must obtain a conditional-use permit from the city after receiving its research, development and demonstration permit from the EPA.

The city ordinance requires public hearings by both the Planning Commission and City Council before the permit can be granted.

Under the Municipal Code, a conditional-use permit may be granted only if the council members find the proposed uses would not conflict with the neighborhood, community or the city’s general plan and would not endanger the health, safety or welfare of persons working or living in the area.

GA Technologies plans to expand its testing of the incinerator by using samples of hazardous wastes from firms considering buying one of their own.

A public hearing on the state’s proposed actions will be held at 7 p.m. June 26 at University Towne Center’s Forum Hall.