Torrance to Hire Analyst : Tracking Hazardous Materials

In an effort to deal with accidents involving hazardous materials used and transported through the city, the Torrance City Council has voted to hire a hazardous-material analyst who will direct a newly trained squad of firefighters.

The person who fills the $44,400-a-year position, which the council approved Tuesday, will keep track of the handling, storage and disposal of hazardous materials used by businesses in the city.

The city has also purchased a hazardous-materials response trailer, which will be used as a command and analysis center in an emergency. The trailer is being designed in Sacramento and will arrive in Torrance in November.

‘There Is a Potential’

In an interview before the meeting, Torrance Battalion Chief Lester Rogers said the analyst, the response team and the trailer are part of the city’s effort to prepare for emergencies. There have been no recent hazardous-materials accidents in Torrance, Rogers said, but “there is a potential.”

“We want to be prepared for the next incident,” said Rogers, who called the team a “valuable resource.”

Mayor Katy Geissert said in an interview that in addition to problems at businesses, “there is a potential for all sorts of accidents” because major highways, state freeways and railroads carry shipments of fuel and chemicals through the city.

Fifteen firefighters from Fire Station 5 have had more than 600 hours of hazardous-materials training in colleges and universities nationwide, Rogers said. The fully equipped team and the $100,000 custom-designed trailer will be in operation by January, he said.

In an emergency, the team will use the trailer’s computer data bank and testing equipment to analyze spills or burning material at the site of the accident. The team is also trained to neutralize hazardous material and to evacuate and decontaminate the area.

The analyst, who will have a background in chemistry and experience in hazardous-material management, will advise the team by phone. The analyst, who will work out of the Fire Prevention Division and answer to the city fire marshal, will also inspect facilities for compliance with regulations on storage, handling and disposal of hazardous materials.

A 1985 state law mandates that businesses list hazardous chemicals in use in the work area and file that information with the county. That law, authored by Assemblywoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), gives the state’s 58 counties, industries and businesses the primary responsibility for developing emergency response plans.

Torrance, however, has opted to keep track of the emergency plans of businesses in the city. Those plans will be reviewed and stored by the hazardous-materials analyst, who will make them available 24 hours a day for emergencies, Torrance Fire Marshal Denny Haas said.

‘An Absolute Deluge’

In recent years, local agencies have had “an absolute deluge” of laws and regulations on the handling and identification of hazardous materials, said Torrance Fire Chief Scott Adams. The hazardous-materials analyst will provide the expertise so the city complies with those laws, he said.

Only a few cities in the South Bay, such as Hawthorne and El Segundo, have hired hazardous-materials specialists. Most South Bay cities store records on hazardous materials used in local businesses rather than pass that responsibility to the county.

Rogers said the Torrance response team and trailer are unique in the South Bay.