Auto Salvage Firm Reopens to Test Disposal Process for Toxic Wastes

An Anaheim auto salvage firm has been granted approval to resume operations for three days this week to test a new process that could render the company’s metal-laden waste nontoxic, a state health official said Tuesday.

Orange County Steel Salvage Inc. had been shut down under a restraining order since March. But in an agreement worked out between the state Attorney General’s office and state Department of Health Services last week, the company was allowed to resume shredding Monday, Tuesday and Friday of this week to test the process, said James McNally, of the health services’ toxic substances control division.

The new treatment process would chemically treat the shredded remains of the automobiles after the steel is separated, combining the residues of lead, cadmium, zinc and other heavy metals with fibers from carpets, upholstery and other materials. The residues and the fibers are permanently sealed together by the process and presumably then are fit for dumping.

Under existing state law, auto shredder waste--known in the industry as “fluff” because of its texture--is considered mildly hazardous because state tests have determined that heavy metal particles could leach from unlined landfills and potentially contaminate water supplies. If the chemical process works, it could pave the way for OC Steel to resume dumping in local municipal landfills.

McNally said state inspectors will visit the Frontera Street yard Friday to test the treated waste to see whether heavy metals have been chemically bound to the “fluff.” If the material passes state toxic control standards, Adams could be allowed to operate the shredder and generate money to clean up a separate 50,000-ton pile of waste contaminated with toxic levels of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), suspected carcinogens.

On Aug. 14, the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board is scheduled to consider whether to allow Adams and one other auto shredder in its three-county jurisdiction to dump wastes in municipal landfills, provided that the “fluff” is placed in an isolated area or the most remote corner of a landfill, said Jerry Thibault, assistant executive officer for the state board.

Thibault said the staff for the nine-member regional board has recommended approval of the policy, which was adopted by the state Water Resources Board last March. That decision is not binding on the state’s nine regional boards, whose members are appointed by the governor.

If the chemical process proves effective, however, shredders who treat their waste could be allowed to dump without restrictions in local landfills, according to Thibault. The Santa Ana regional board has jurisdiction over state waterways in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, as well as most of west, north and central Orange County, stretching south to Laguna Beach.

It was unclear what effect the new chemical process would have on OC Steel’s waste pile contaminated with PCBs. At present, toxic waste may be dumped in only a dwindling number of federally certified Class I landfills, which are required to have multiple liners to prevent leaking.