Lockheed’s Waste Fine Could Total $108,000

State health officials are seeking a $100,800 penalty from Lockheed Aeronautical Systems Co. for alleged hazardous waste violations in Burbank.

The case involves hazardous waste management at Lockheed’s B-1 plant, 1705 Victory Place, where state officials said the company receives and stores waste from several Lockheed plants for subsequent shipment and disposal.

The 11-page complaint and order stem from an inspection in March by the Department of Health Services, which found that Lockheed was accepting many types of wastes not mentioned in its state-approved operation plan. Such plans specify the types of wastes permitted and the manner in which they are to be handled.

Long List of Wastes

Paul Baranick, a senior hazardous materials specialist with the department, said Lockheed was receiving and storing a long list of unapproved waste compounds from other plants, including perchloroethylene, chromic acid, sulfuric and nitric acid, benzene and toluene.

“These things were all waste streams that they accepted without any knowledge by the department, or any permission of the department,” Baranick said. “I think they were under the impression that they could handle anything.”

The complaint, dated July 27, was appealed Friday by Lockheed, which will be entitled to a hearing before an administrative law judge.

Company spokesman Rich Stadler declined comment, saying “as long as it’s under appeal, we’re just not going to talk about the specifics.”

Along with handling unapproved wastes, Lockheed was accused of other violations, including storing asbestos waste outside the approved area, failing to maintain a current list of hazardous waste it is allowed to handle, failing to properly coordinate emergency response needs with local police and fire departments, and failing to segregate two containers of incompatible wastes--those that could chemically react.

The complaint included an order requiring Lockheed to take some corrective steps immediately and to complete others in 10 or 30 days.

Health officials said the alleged violations did not present a direct threat to public health.

The complaint is the latest run-in between Lockheed and health and safety regulators. The B-1 plant is also the location of an old toxic waste dump, created in the 1940s and 1950s, that Lockheed has been excavating and hauling to a licensed hazardous waste landfill under orders from the state.

Water Contaminated

Lockheed also has been pumping ground water from beneath its Burbank complex and treating it to remove chemical solvents, principally trichloroethylene and perchloroethylene, leaked and spilled by the company.

The company is under pressure from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to help pay for a $69-million ground water treatment system to clean up nearby Burbank city wells, which are shut due to pollution by the solvents.

Late in June, Lockheed agreed to pay $1.49 million in penalties to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration for health and safety violations in Burbank involving exposure of workers to toxic chemicals during manufacture of the secret Stealth jet fighter. It was the highest penalty ever paid in California in a job-safety case.