Monterey Park : Senate OKs Gas-Testing Bill

The state Senate has passed a bill requiring companies that buy gas from landfills to test it for vinyl chloride before piping it to customers.

The bill, authored by Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) and carried in the Senate by Sen. Joseph B. Montoya (D-Whittier), was drafted after the Public Utilities Commission reported that the Southern California Gas Co. had obtained gas from the Operating Industries Inc. landfill in Monterey Park that was contaminated with vinyl chloride and other toxic substances.

The gas company has said that the gas did not present a health hazard, but it canceled its contract to buy the gas in 1986 and has endorsed Hayden’s bill. The bill, which was amended in the Senate before being passed on a unanimous vote, must be approved by the Assembly in amended form before it can be sent to the governor for his signature.