San Diego

An environmental group Tuesday urged the San Diego City Council to appeal a ruling by a federal judge that allows a private firm to fire up an experimental hazardous-waste incinerator in La Jolla.

The Environmental Health Coalition presented council members with petitions that reportedly contain the names of 3,600 people opposed to the incinerator, which Ogden Environmental Services is preparing to start. Sue Oxley, a member of the coalition, said the signatures were gathered during the past week.

On June 27, U. S. District Judge Judith Keep barred the council from using its authority to issue a “conditional-use permit” regulating the project, ruling that the city had shown through its actions that it actually intended to ban the incinerator.

Keep ruled that the posture violated Congress’ strongly worded legislation encouraging development of innovative hazardous-waste disposal technology and that it ignored state and federal agencies’ conclusions that the project is safe.

Oxley told the council that “there is, most obviously, a serious threat to health and safety, but even more importantly, the judge’s ruling erodes a prime legal power of the city, that of land-use regulation.”

She urged the city to hire outside, expert legal help for the appeal. City attorneys “have been out-lawyered. There’s no question about that,” Oxley said in an interview.

The council, which is still awaiting formal receipt of Keep’s order, is scheduled to discuss the appeal in a closed session Tuesday, said Assistant City Atty. Curtis Fitzpatrick.