Anaheim : Salvage Firm Must Develop Clean-Up Plan

The owner of an Anaheim auto salvage company has been ordered to develop a plan to clean up a 50,000-ton pile of auto-shredder waste contaminated with toxic levels of PCBs, lead and cadmium.

The state Department of Health Services issued the order Friday to George Adams Jr., operator of Orange County Steel Salvage. Adams was given 45 days to come up with a testing plan for the toxic substances, then he was ordered to propose alternatives for removing the waste pile.

Adams has said that he can’t afford to take the waste to a disposal facility licensed to received toxic materials, nor can he persuade operators of ordinary municipal landfills to accept the contaminated material.

Tests by state health officials have found levels of PCBs, a suspected carcinogen, at more than double the state’s legal maximum, as well as high levels of lead and cadmium.

If he fails to comply with the order, health officials said the state would take over the disposal job, which has been estimated at $25 million, then move to recover costs from Adams. Adams has threatened to file bankruptcy and to “walk away” from the contaminated waste pile if he were forced to haul the material and pay to dispose of it at a facility licensed to receive hazardous waste.