TAKING HAZARDOUS SPILLS

The Orange County Hazardous Materials Team, administered by the county Health Care Agency division of environmental health, responds to calls on chemical spills and other incidents involving hazardous materials. Sometimes it goes to the site, other times it advises citizens or local fire departments over the phone.

Of 17 local fire departments in Orange County (16 city departments plus the county), three have hazardous materials units that cover the county through mutual aid agreements-- Anaheim, Huntington Beach and the county station in Irvine. HAZMAT is called in most, but not all, incidents. Following is HAZMAT’s spill response log for April.

Date: April 1 Location of Incident: 421 S. Flower Ave., Brea Material Handler: Residence, owner Materials Involved: Acid Date: April 1 Location of Incident: Alton & Barranca parkways, Irvine Material Handler: Santa Fe Railroad Materials Involved: Gas & diesel Date: April 2 Location of Incident: 1100 W. Stewart Drive, Orange Material Handler: St. Joseph Hospital Materials Involved: Unknown odor Date: April 5 Location of Incident: 10842 Noel St., Los Alamitos Material Handler: BCB Products Materials Involved: Methylene chlorine, toluene, Stoddard solvent Date: April 7 Location of Incident: 10842 Noel St., Los Alamitos Material Handler: Larrport Properties Materials Involved: Methylene chloride Date: April 7 Location of Incident: 353 N. Euclid Way, Anaheim Material Handler: Unlimited Awnings Materials Involved: Sodium cyanide Date: April 11 Location of Incident: 640 W. Taft Ave., Orange Material Handler: ANR Trucking Materials Involved: Corrosive Date: April 12 Location of Incident: 900 S. Harbor Blvd., Fullerton Material Handler: Price Club Materials Involved: Carburetor cleaner Date: April 12 Location of Incident: 23861 El Toro Road, El Toro Material Handler: Unknown Materials Involved: Chlorine solvent Date: April 13 Location of Incident: Trabuco Hills High School, Mission Viejo Material Handler: Unknown Materials Involved: Triton CS-87 Date: April 14 Location of Incident: Rancho Santiago Blvd., Orange Material Handler: Unknown; illegal dump Materials Involved: Unknown Date: April 14 Location of Incident: Kraemer & Yorba Linda boulevards, Placentia Material Handler: Unknown Materials Involved: Dursban Date: April 17 Location of Incident: 12570 Knott Ave., Garden Grove Material Handler: Air Industries Corp. Materials Involved: Chlorine gas & nitrous oxide Date: April 18 Location of Incident: 4695 MacArthur Court, Newport Beach Material Handler: Contractor Materials Involved: Cyclopentadiene & mineral spirits Date: April 19 Location of Incident: 33181 Mesa Vista Drive, Dana Point Material Handler: Residence, owner Materials Involved: Paint waste to soil Date: April 19 Location of Incident: Kraemer Boulevard & La Palma Avenue, Anaheim Material Handler: Unknown Materials Involved: Glycol Date: April 19 Location of Incident: 19181 Norwood Terrace, Irvine Material Handler: Residence, owner Materials Involved: Pesticides (garage fire) Date: April 20 Location of Incident: 24942 Stagecoach Drive, Laguna Hills Material Handler: Residence, occupant Materials Involved: Paint to soil Date: April 25 Location of Incident: 20 Goodyear, Irvine Material Handler: Brother Corp. Materials Involved: Diesel spill Date: April 26 Location of Incident: 2201 E. Cerritos Ave., Anaheim Material Handler: Neville Chemical Materials Involved: Lyndol resin oil Date: April 26 Location of Incident: 4000 W. Metropolitan Drive, Orange Material Handler: Tishman West Materials Involved: Cooling tower solution Date: April 27 Location of Incident: 1700 W. Struck Ave., Orange Material Handler: JNS Sign Co. Materials Involved: Silica sand & dry lead chromate paint Date: April 29 Location of Incident: 6699 Westminster Ave., Westminster Material Handler: Unknown Materials Involved: Unknown Source: Orange County Health Care Agency, environmental health division