Local News in Brief : Air Agency Asked to Block Van Nuys Toxic-Disposal Test

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors recommended that South Coast Air Quality Management District officials Tuesday stop a proposed test of a toxic-disposal method at a Van Nuys aerospace firm unless an environmental impact report is conducted.

A spokeswoman for the air quality agency has said it needs more information before deciding whether the Marquardt Co. can conduct the tests, which would stretch over 15 days.

In addition, the board asked the state Department of Health Services to withhold a $73,000 grant to the company for the test. The state awarded the money as part of its research effort to find ways to reduce hazardous waste.

Area residents and environmentalists presented more than 500 letters Tuesday urging supervisors to oppose the testing. The protesters say the experiments would pose a health hazard to San Fernando Valley residents and could lead to installation of a permanent toxic-waste incinerator there.

Officials for the company and the state Department of Health Services maintain that the test is safe and that no plans exist for a permanent incinerator.

“It is in the best interest of the community to have questions answered . . . and to have an EIR,” Antonovich said before the measure to stop the test was approved 4 to 1. Supervisor Pete Schabarum dissented.

“Certainly we should ask the state’s department to give us some indication that this won’t jeopardize public health,” Supervisor Ed Edelman added.

The incinerator would burn jet fuel with carbon tetrachloride, trichlorbenzene and lacquer thinner. Environmentalists say the materials are poisonous and toxic.

Among the several speakers endorsing the motion was Susan Tansky, who is affiliated with the California Alliance in Defense of Residential Environments.

“We feel we are in a state of emergency in the Valley with all the pollutants we have to breathe every day,” she said.