Water Board Says 2 Firms Polluted Parts of S.D. Bay

The state Regional Water Quality Control Board has ruled that two companies negligently polluted portions of San Diego Bay.

The action Monday against Paco Terminals Inc. of National City and Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical Corp. of San Diego means the two firms could be liable for criminal prosecution if they fail to cooperate with the water board.

So far, though, the companies have been cooperative, said water board senior engineer David Barker. State officials and the firms are currently negotiating a settlement that will include fines. A deadline to pay the fines has been set for May 25, Barker said.

The finding against Teledyne Ryan is based on the presence of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in sediment in Convair Lagoon, which is near Lindbergh Field and across the east end of Harbor Island. Spilled PCBs from a Teledyne Ryan manufacturing plant on Harbor Drive were carried through a drainage system into Convair Lagoon.

The company, according to Barker, is under orders to determine the level of PCBs in the lagoon and to take part in a cleanup program.

In the Paco Terminals case, the firm was found to have negligently polluted sediment near the 24th Street Marine Terminal in National City with copper. From about 1980 until last year, the firm stored large mounds of copper ore at the terminal, where it was loaded onto ships.

In July, 1985, the water board found the company in violation of its state-issued permit, the first step in a regulatory process leading to Monday’s action.

Paco Terminals is under orders to clean the sediment and is now studying how it will accomplish that. Such a cleanup could entail disposing of the contaminated soil on land or possibly dumping it in the open ocean, Barker said.

Once a disposal plan has been approved, cleanup of the site is expected to take a year to 18 months.