3 Area Businesses Among 20 Most Penalized by Smog Board

Three businesses in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys were among 20 firms that paid the highest penalties in 1987 to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, according to figures compiled by the air-quality agency.

Newhall Refining Co. of Newhall; Wambold Marker, formerly of Chatsworth, and Commodore Products of Sylmar ranked 11th, 13th and 19th, respectively, in payments to the air district to settle violation notices.

Altogether, the district last year collected more than $1.85 million in penalties and settlements, which represent nearly 4% of its annual $50.7-million budget. The 20 most penalized firms paid about $489,000, more than a fourth of the total, the district said.

District officials stressed that most of the 1987 payments stemmed from violations charged during the prior two years, reflecting the lag time required for litigation or negotiated settlements.

They also said the most-penalized list does not reflect the biggest polluters, but rather firms found to have breached specific pollution-control rules or permit restrictions.

Newhall Refining--an oil refiner on Clampitt Road between Sierra Highway and the Antelope Valley Freeway--paid $11,250 for violations cited in 1986 and the start of last year, said air district spokeswoman Jacqueline Switzer. The company paid $750 for each of 15 violation notices, mostly for excessive sulfur emissions and lack of required permits, she said.

Wambold Marker, a furniture maker formerly in the 9700 block of Eton Avenue, paid $10,000 to settle multiple violation notices issued in 1985. Wambold was accused of routinely exceeding limits on emission of vapors from furniture coatings that help form ozone, the lung-irritating gas that is the main component of smog. Wambold since has moved to Simi Valley.

Commodore Products, a manufacturer of countertops for bathrooms and vanities at 12800 Foothill Blvd., paid $9,000 to settle a series of notices issued in 1986. Commodore also was accused of emitting excessive amounts of ozone-forming gases from painting and resin-curing operations.

The most penalized firm in 1987 was California Portland Cement Co. of Colton, which paid $77,000 for violating limits on discharge of particulate matter in 1985-87.

District officials said that they issued 4,455 violation notices in 1987 and that civil court actions were filed in 520 cases and criminal charges in 15 others. The district issued 5,362 violation notices in 1986 and 4,332 the year before.

The maximum penalty for each violation was $1,000 until the start of this year, when the ceiling was raised to $25,000 for violations determined to have occurred with a company’s full knowledge.

The district regulates factories and other stationary air-pollution sources in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties, and part of San Bernardino County.