Local News in Brief : Impact Study Ordered

The city of Vernon must prepare a full environmental impact study to assess the potential risks to area residents of a proposed controversial hazardous waste incinerator, the state Department of Health Services has ordered.

“It’s a tremendous victory,” said Greenpeace spokesman Bradley Angel, noting that last year the state health department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had issued draft permits for the project.

The $29-million incinerator--which California Thermal Treatment Services wants to build on a 9-acre site southwest of the interchange between the Santa Ana and Long Beach freeways--would be the first of its type in Southern California. It would burn hazardous substances such as solvents, industrial liquids and infectious debris from hospitals.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District had previously ruled that an environmental impact study was not necessary. But in the past several months, the nearby cities of Commerce and Bell, as well as several environmental groups, have protested the move. Citizens of South-Central Los Angeles also have filed suit against Vernon, challenging the city’s granting of a conditional use permit for the project.