Hearing Postponed for Maker of Toxic Gases

The postponement of a hearing in San Diego Superior Court on Monday will allow a La Mesa firm to continue producing toxic gases without a permit, at least through early December, said Paul Sidhu, deputy director of the county Air Pollution Control District.

Phoenix Research Corp. at 8075 Alvarado Road will be permitted to continue making arsine and phosphine at least through Dec. 6, as it has been under a court-ordered injunction since 1987. That order prevents the APCD from enforcing county regulations on the firm, Sidhu said.

La Mesa citizens and officials made it plain in APCD hearings more than two years ago that the city does not want the Union Carbide subsidiary to continue operating there.

The pollution agency originally ordered the firm to shut down in 1986, when it failed to submit a proposal for pollution-control devices. The plant continued to operate, however, and company officials obtained the injunction the next year.

Phoenix, which produces the gases for the semiconductor industry, met with APCD officials last February and agreed to file for another operating permit. In the application, the company proposed installing air pollution-control equipment known as scrubbers, a move that Sidhu speculated led to the postponement of Monday’s hearing.

He said the air-pollution agency, which views the firm as a carefully run operation, is reviewing the application and awaiting the results of equipment tests.

“If the tests indicate that the equipment can operate satisfactorily, then, consistent with our rules and regulations, we will issue a permit and then they will install the equipment,” Sidhu said.