Teledyne Faces Fine on PCB Order
Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical could be fined $20,000 for missing a March 1 deadline to complete a report on the concentration of toxic PCBs in the sediment of Convair Lagoon.
The report was ordered as part of a cleanup action taken against Teledyne Ryan by the Regional Water Quality Control Board, which levied a $75,000 fine against the company last year for discharging cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls from its transformers into storm drains leading to the bay.
The board found that PCBs were discharged into storm drains and into the lagoon at least 58 times during rainstorms from March, 1985, to December, 1987. Although high levels of the carcinogen have been detected in mussels, no study has been done to determine the extent of PCB contamination in the lagoon sediments.
The board ordered Teledyne to do such a study by March 1, but the company has yet to finish the work. Regional board staff members on Wednesday proposed fining the company $20,000 for the missed deadline--an administrative penalty that could be approved or modified by regional board members at their April 10 meeting.
Conward Williams, Teledyne’s general counsel, said Friday that the company expects to finish the study by early May.
In addition, Williams said, the defense contractor has conducted studies that indicate other contributors to the PCB contamination--namely the General Dynamics plant and Lindbergh Field, which is operated by the San Diego Unified Port District.
He declined to say specifically what these studies show, but added that the data has been forwarded to the regional board along with Teledyne’s request to include the company and Port District as part of the cleanup.
David Barker, senior engineer for the regional board, said Friday that water pollution officials still believe Teledyne is the sole source of the PCB problem: “Our evidence to date doesn’t indicate there is another responsible party, but there is additional work to be done on that.
“We’re not closing the books on that. We’re saying that Teledyne Ryan is at least one responsible party,” he said
The prospect of fining Teledyne Ryan for missing the study deadline was hailed by one environmentalist as a way to get the company’s attention.
“This is the kind of action the regional board needs to take to show that they mean business,” said Jay Powell, special projects coordinator for the Environmental Health Coalition. “It certainly sends the right message to Teledyne, that they can’t drag their feet. We need to get on with the cleanup.”
Powell noted that the extent of the PCB cleanup will hinge on the amount of sediment contamination found by the Teledyne report.
