Firm Sues City Over Test-Burn Rejection

A research firm, rebuffed by city authorities in its effort to operate an experimental hazardous-waste incinerator in La Jolla, filed suit in U.S. District Court Wednesday seeking permission to burn the material.

The lawsuit by Ogden Environmental Services Inc. of Delaware represents the firm’s latest effort in an ongoing and controversial quest to test a waste-incineration method at the GA Technologies plant on Genesee Avenue near the UC San Diego campus.

The dispute has national overtones because the experimental incinerator is part of a federally sponsored effort to develop alternatives to the dumping of hazardous wastes at landfills throughout the country.

Site Called Inappropriate

Critics have long maintained that the La Jolla site is inappropriate for test incineration of the hazardous and potentially cancer-causing wastes--such as PCBs and heavy metals--that would be burned. In addition to the nearby university, San Diego city planners have noted, the site is also near three hospitals, a child care center, residential tracts and Torrey Pines State Reserve.

Ogden maintains that the danger of contamination from the incinerator would be minuscule. The research would be conducted with small quantities of hazardous materials and would be closely supervised by authorities, the company says.

In a 54-page lawsuit that names the City of San Diego and the City Council as defendants, the company charged Wednesday that the council acted improperly last year when it rejected the burn proposal. The company noted that its plan had passed a wide array of federal, state and local regulatory hurdles.

The council rejected the application Dec. 8, saying too many questions remained about such a potentially hazardous operation. It also directed Ogden to conduct an environmental review.

At the time of the debate, Mayor Maureen O’Connor noted that past technological advances--such as X-ray machines--have turned out to be potentially hazardous.

“A lot of people getting overdoses of X-rays have leukemia,” she said. “My husband’s one of those.”

Overstepped Authority?

Despite O’Connor’s sentiments, Ogden says the council overstepped its authority. The city’s action, it charges, “impermissibly encroaches upon federal authority . . . to determine the safety” of such facilities.

The company says the city’s effort “reflects a parochial refusal to share in the national responsibility to develop safe methods of hazardous-waste treatment.”

Curtis Fitzpatrick, assistant city attorney, said Wednesday that although he had not seen the lawsuit, it came as no surprise. He repeated the city’s position that the council was within its rights when it made a land-use decision to reject the incineration proposal.

Ogden Environmental Services is asking the court to invalidate the city’s action and declare the company’s right to operate the incinerator. It is also seeking damages and legal fees from the city.