Greenpeace Rallies Against Permit to Burn Toxic Waste

The main gate of a La Jolla company which wants to burn toxic waste was blocked for more than four hours Wednesday morning by about 30 members of Greenpeace, an environmental group that objects to the use of the experimental incineration technology.

There were no arrests, but one demonstrator was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla for treatment after the mechanical gate which she had chained herself to was suddenly activated. Victoria Randolph of Los Angeles suffered bruises around the waist, back and abdomen, a hospital spokesman said.

The demonstration at GA Technologies on Torrey Pines Mesa caused traffic to back up down Genessee Avenue and onto Interstate 5, said San Diego Police spokesman Rick Carlson, and a fender-bender was blamed on the congestion.

Some of the more than 1,200 employees at the high-technology firm were late for work because of the protest, a company spokesman said, but the demonstration did little to hinder operations at GA, an internationally known firm that develops, among other things, nuclear reactors.

A ‘Community Alert’

Bradley Angel, toxics director for Greenpeace in San Francisco, said the demonstration was designed to “alert the community that this company plans to burn toxic waste right in their backyard.”

“We know that incineration does not completely destroy toxic waste and we know it does not safely destroy toxic waste,” said Angel. “In fact, incineration creates new toxic compounds that are discharged into the air and then breathed by nearby residents. But the EPA and the state health department are going right ahead and approving these things without a second thought.”

Angel said Greenpeace, which has local members but no San Diego office, believes industries should be required to reduce the amount of toxic waste they generate until there is “a safe, proven technology to neutralize it.”

The protest was timed to highlight a public hearing Friday on the state Department of Health Services’ decision to grant a permit for the incinerator without requiring a full review of its environmental impacts.

The incinerator, which was recently sold by GA Technologies to Ogden Environmental Services but will be operated at the La Jolla site, is called a circulating bed combustor. It is billed as an advanced treatment technique for burning combustible materials, like contaminated soils and solvents.

In February, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved a permit allowing use of the incinerator over the next five years on an “experimental” basis, meaning the company can burn samples of waste from customers interested in purchasing a similar mechanism.

The EPA permit has been appealed by the San Diego-based Environmental Health Coalition, which has been in the forefront in opposing the incinerator. Diane Takvorian, coalition director, said regulatory agencies should require a more thorough assessment of the public health and environmental impacts of the waste-burner.

Deflated Tires

Wednesday’s protest started at 7:30 a.m. when a rented truck covered with Greenpeace signs and filled with protesters parked across GA’s entrance on Johns Hopkins Drive. The demonstrators, clad in white jump suits with the red-lettered message, “Toxic Waste Kills,” piled out and quickly disabled the truck, deflating its tires.

Two protesters--Randolph, 34, and Alan Byrd, 24--each wrapped a thick chain around their waists. One end of the chain was then attached to the truck and the other to the mechanical gate at the GA entrance. Other demonstrators took up position along the street, holding placards reading, “Ban the Toxic Burn” and “Burn it Today, Breathe it Tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, cars containing baffled employees backed up.

Some workers said they sympathized with the protesters: “You need things like this to keep the ecology movement going, but the sad thing is it won’t do any good at all,” said a woman who declined to give her name and described herself as “a paper pusher” for GA.

Others were not amused. One man shouted an expletive at the demonstrators, knocked a sign from their hands and told them, “You idiots . . . We’re getting rid of toxic waste, not making it.”

Gate Opened

A low-key mood predominated throughout much of the demonstration until the electronic gate began to open. Randolph, who was anchored to the truck but was being pulled in another direction by the moving gate, began screaming: “Please stop, please stop.”

Protesters grabbed the gate, attempted to halt it manually and then it suddenly stopped. Paramedics soon arrived and freed Randolph with bolt-cutters. “It was like the rack,” she said while being carried to an ambulance.

Police spokesman Carlson quoted GA officials as saying the mishap occurred when a new security guard in a distant control room accidentally hit the switch that operates the gate. Greenpeace took full advantage of the faux pas.

“This should be a good example of (the company’s) care for the public as well as their competency,” Angel said. “If we can’t trust them to handle a peaceful protest, how can we trust them with toxic waste?”

Donald Krenz, president of Ogden Environmental Services, characterized the protest as “one of the inconveniences you have to put up with from time to time.” He said the public hearing scheduled for Friday “would have been a more appropriate place for them to express their opinions.”