L.A. Lags in Dealing With Homeowners’ Toxic Wastes

When Winston and Catherine Chappell threw away some old paint, gasoline, cleaners and pesticides last November, they thought they were doing a good deed.

The Chappells had just bought a 53-year-old house in Pacific Palisades, and told the former owners that they would take care of the accumulated trash. So they paid a licensed trash hauler $200 to get rid of it.

A week later, county sanitation officials contacted the young couple and told them their “good deed” had violated the law. It would cost them up to $1,000 to make amends, they estimated. The “crime” was throwing away hazardous, toxic materials at the La Puente landfill, which is not authorized to accept such wastes. The penalty was the estimated cost of getting the wastes dumped properly.

“We paid a hauler to take care of it, when we could have just thrown the stuff out in the garbage can and probably not worried about it,” said Catherine Chappell, 33. “Now we’re stuck in this position. It seems crazy to me.” Eventually, they reached a compromise under which they hired a licensed hauler for about $200 to properly remove the waste.

Los Angeles homeowners such as the Chappells discard more than 45 tons a day of potentially toxic or dangerous waste, most not realizing that the law requires them to separate hazardous materials from ordinary household trash.

Household hazardous wastes--from cleansers to car oil, ammonia to antifreeze, pool chemicals to pesticides--make up just one-tenth of 1% of the 45,000 tons of waste dumped in the county daily. Yet they have caused enormous headaches to unsuspecting homeowners, scores of serious injuries to refuse handlers and some worry among specialists who are concerned that the improperly dumped wastes could contaminate the ground water running beneath the landfills.

As a result, Los Angeles city and county officials are developing plans for homeowners to dump their hazardous wastes properly or have them taken to specially designated sites. Both plans will be the first alternatives to improper disposal of waste ever provided by the city or county, specialists say.

But the efforts lag behind those of neighboring counties such as San Diego, San Bernardino and Orange, and cities such as Santa Monica, Glendale and El Segundo, which already provide residents with hazardous waste collection services or disposal programs.

Without such services, Los Angeles homeowners have had no choice but to let the materials accumulate or throw them away illegally. Those curious about the law have been told they cannot throw away their household hazardous waste, but not told what they can do with it.

By law, homeowners can cart no more than five gallons or 50 pounds of hazardous wastes per trip to a dump or site licensed to accept them, said William George, project engineer for the county’s sanitation district. Los Angeles County has no such dumps, and the closest--Kettleman in Kings County and Casmalia in Santa Barbara County--do not accept pesticides.

The city’s Bureau of Sanitation now is preparing to implement a solution discussed two years ago, a $637,000 pilot program that the City Council must approve. It would provide for public education for six months and a 10-week collection service to about 22,000 households northeast of downtown.

The City Council is expected to consider the plan Wednesday, and a vote is expected within several weeks, officials said.

Residents in the test area would be able to telephone a special sanitation bureau unit whenever they had hazardous materials to dispose. The bureau would make an appointment to collect the wastes as part of the resident’s normal trash collection schedule.

“We felt we wanted to find a program that deals with resident needs on a regular basis,” said Anna Sklar, spokeswoman for the Department of Public Works.

In September, the bureau polled residents in the areas, which include parts of Glassell Park, El Sereno, Highland Park, Mt. Washington and Eagle Rock, and found about 97% favored the plan, Sklar said.

Some Would Be Incinerated

Some of the wastes would be incinerated or dumped at licensed landfills. But materials such as paint, which accounts for 60% to 80% of household toxic waste, would be recycled.

“Our intent is to encourage people to use up the materials and stop them from throwing wastes away,” said Reva Fabrikant, sanitary engineer for the Bureau of Sanitation, a division of the Public Works Department.

Funding for the pilot project would come from a $2-million environmental trust fund set aside by the city as part of an agreement reached with the Federal Environmental Protection Agency in 1980.

The county, meanwhile, most likely will offer a one-day-a-year collection site at several locations, where residents can dispose of household hazardous wastes for free, George said.

The materials will then be packed and transported by a contracted hauler to landfills licensed to accept hazardous wastes.

Officials estimate a countywide collection program may cost as much as $2 million to initiate. Funding most likely will come from a tipping fee on landfill users, which will trickle down to homeowners through an increase in the landfill service fee. Residents probably will pay less than $1 per household a year, officials estimate.

Supervisors to Get Draft

A draft of the plan will soon be submitted to the supervisors, but a working program probably will not be implemented for several months, officials said.

Both the city and county expect to offer public education programs to accompany the collection efforts.

“Most people don’t realize it’s against the law to throw the wastes away,” said Dan Fresquez, a county hazardous materials specialist. “To teach them the law is the best way to reduce the amount going into the landfill.”

At the same time, the county is clamping down on illegal dumping through a checking program at each of its four dumps, none of which is licensed for hazardous materials, George said.

Landfill workers often randomly pull aside as many as five trucks a day and check the loads of refuse for hazardous wastes. Materials found are disposed of properly and the hauler is billed, he said.

In addition, county inspectors often roam the landfills, looking for large amounts of hazardous materials. The source is traced and billed for the cost of proper disposal.

It is difficult, but not impossible, to track small amounts of hazardous wastes back to homeowners, said Peter Torres, hazardous materials specialist. “When it comes down to enforcing the law, we can’t accept ignorance as a viable excuse,” Torres said.

Los Angeles Plans Lagging

The plans in Los Angeles lag behind those of other nearby communities. San Bernardino County operates a collection site open five days a week to its residents, as well as a recycling program for motor oil and paints.

Orange County has held five toxic roundup days since 1985, including a November, 1986, collection that netted 805 55-gallon drums of wastes. The county is planning to offer four to five permanent sites, one of which will open every two or three weeks, by April.

Santa Monica has offered a collection site for its residents one day a year since 1985, and now is developing a facility that would accept wastes six days a week. El Segundo also has a one-day-a-year disposal program, and Glendale held its first collection day last October.

Liability risks and funding problems have prevented Los Angeles County from offering such services in the past, said Mike Mohajer, supervising civil engineer for the county’s waste management division.

“With 85 cities to deal with, we’ve got a lot more people involved, a more complex operation. We just want to make sure we do something cost-effective,” said Kieran Berjin, division engineer with the county’s sanitation district.

Without resources, some frustrated homeowners will resort to dumping the wastes illegally because they worry about keeping it around their children, officials said.

‘I’m Trying to Comply’

“People say, ‘You know, I’m trying to comply with the law, trying to be a good guy about this, but if you can’t help me, I’m going to have to dump the stuff down the drain, or in the road, or hide it in the trash,’ ” materials specialist Torres said.

Hazardous wastes common to the average household include pool and darkroom chemicals, paint, motor oil, car batteries, chlorine bleach, weed killers and furniture polish.

These products contain toxic chemicals, which threaten not only curious children, but also adults when kept in unmarked, wrongly labeled or unsecured containers.

But greater dangers are posed when the wastes are thrown away, specialists say. Flammable products can start fires in refuse trucks. Incompatible liquids can mix accidently, forming highly explosive compounds. Acids and solvents can cause burns if they contact the skin.

Such accidents are not uncommon. Twenty sanitation workers suffered injuries between October, 1986, and last October by being exposed to the wastes, officials reported. About 200 workers have been harmed since 1980.

One worker lost his hearing temporarily when a mixture of wastes splattered on him as it churned in a refuse hauler. Another was blinded months ago in a similar accident. He only recently regained his sight, officials said.

Environment Also Periled

Experts say the environment may also be in danger. If toxic chemicals and wastes are dumped at landfills not designated or licensed to handle them, they eventually may contaminate the ground water running beneath them. No evidence of contamination has been found yet, because landfills are lined with absorption materials to soak up waste runoff.

“The damage in the long run is something that happens in a manner not readily detectable. It’s not something like an incident at a factory. It’s a gradual problem,” Torres said.

If a resident has a small spill or accumulates dangerous pesticides or banned materials, the county’s agricultural division may pick up the materials. The department used to meet all requests to collect pesticides, but the service fell victim to budget cuts.

“If it’s an extremely hazardous material, then we’re taking it. If it’s moderately or slightly toxic, we’re just asking people to pack the materials safely in a box, keep it away from kids, inventory it and put it in a locked area,” said Gary Maxwell, supervising agricultural inspector of the county Agricultural Department.

Requests from homeowners for pesticide pickups are growing, Maxwell said. His office has received about 100 requests since the service was cut in July.

Service Stations Alternative

Waste car oil often is accepted by some service stations.

Other than hiring an expensive licensed hauler to pick up the wastes, homeowners have virtually no place to turn for help in disposing with toxic wastes. Few haulers are set up to help homeowners with small amounts of waste.

Jack Adamson found that out the hard way. Last October, while cleaning out a garage belonging to a relative, Adamson collected more than 60 partially filled containers of cleaning fluids, metal and leather polishes, antifreeze and assorted solvents.

Adamson, 65, suspected it was illegal to throw the containers away, and consulted the city’s sanitation department for advice.

“They said, ‘Yeah, it’s illegal.’ I said ‘OK, send a special truck to pick up the stuff.’ I figured they had trucks available for this since they have them to pick up dead animals and contaminated meat,” he said. “Basically they told me, ‘You can’t move it, you can’t dump it, you can’t dispose of it, and we don’t know how to help you, sir.’ ”

Adamson also contacted the county Environmental Health Division and several private hazardous waste haulers for help. The answers were the same: Such services normally are not available for homeowners.

“I wanted to obey the law, but the laws are ridiculous,” he said. “You can’t throw (hazardous wastes) away, but there’s no other way to take care of it.”

Today, Adamson is still stuck with the stuff.

WHAT TO DO WITH HAZARDOUS WASTE Los Angeles homeowners starting their spring cleaning may want to double check their finds before throwing them away. Normal household goods such as half-filled cans of paint, fingernail polish, oven cleaner and darkroom chemicals are hazardous wastes, and cannot be disposed of in the ordinary trash.

EVERYDAY MATERIALS CONSIDERED TO BE TOXIC Auto supplies

Gas, diesel fuel

New & used motor oil

Kerosene

Antifreeze

Auto batteries

Transmission fluid

House, garden supplies

Insecticides

Pest poison

Soil fumigants

Turpentine

Latex, oil-base, &

Alkyd paints

Spot removers

Paint thinner

Cleaning supplies

Lye

Ammonia

Chlorine bleach

Disinfectants

Tub, tile cleaners

Toilet bowl cleaners

Rug cleaners

Furniture, floor polish

Miscellaneous

Rubbing alcohol

Perfume, cologne

After-shave lotion

Medicated shampoos

Hearing aid batteries

Flea powder

Photo chemicals

Nail polish, remover

Hair waving lotions

Swimming pool acid

SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR DEALING WITH HAZARDOUS WASTES

Some materials, such as paint and used motor oil, can be recycled. Containers that have held any of the above but are now completely empty can be thrown away in the ordinary trash.

Both the city and county have services pending for proper disposal of these wastes. Until the programs are implemented, however, homeowners with hazardous materials have little choice but to:

Use up the products, give them away or store them securely in their original containers.

Hire a licensed private hauler to pick up the wastes. Such haulers, however, are reluctant to service individual homeowners with small amounts of wastes; when they do, they usually charge at least $200 for their services.

Haul the stuff themselves, but only if the amount is less than five gallons or 50 pounds, and only to landfills licensed to accept such materials. Los Angeles County has no such dumps, and the closest, Kettleman in Kings County and Casmalia in Santa Barbara County, do not accept pesticides.