Environment Group Opens L.A. Office

The Natural Resources Defense Council, which ignited a furor in February when it blew the whistle on Alar, a chemical used on apples, formally opens its first Southern California office in downtown Los Angeles today.

The New York-based organization, known for suing government agencies and private businesses to enforce environmental laws, is staffing its office here with three full-time attorneys and a scientist. An additional attorney and scientist are scheduled to join the staff in January.

In the works for nearly a year, the move is widely seen as bringing a new dimension to the Southern California environmental movement.

While national and local groups have long lobbied here for various environmental causes, they generally have lacked the scientific and legal resources to fully press their cases.

“I think it should send the message to industry that a tough advocate has arrived and we’re going to be working on the environmental side,” said John Adams, council executive director headquartered in New York.

“We can fight,” added senior attorney Lynne Edgerton. “We don’t have to just say please clean up. . . . If they’re not complying, we can haul them into court. Corporations have very sophisticated legal counsel. The environmentalists should, too.”

The Los Angeles branch already has opened preliminary investigations into air and water pollution issues in Southern California, including possibly illegal industrial discharges into sewer systems.

And it has retained Mary Nichols, former chairwoman of the state Air Resources Board, as senior counsel to focus on air quality developments. Nichols most recently was a paid air quality consultant to Southern California Edison Co.

Officials of Southern California environmental groups are hailing the council’s move here.

Among them is Mark Abramowitz of the Coalition for Clean Air in Los Angeles, which frequently has gone to court to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to enforce the federal Clean Air Act. “If (the EPA) thinks I’ve given them a hard time, just wait till NRDC gets (started),” he said.

Another air quality advocate, however, cautioned environmentalists not to expect too much.

Gladys Meade of the American Lung Assn. of California said she is delighted at the group’s arrival because of its “outstanding” litigation record in Washington. But, Meade added, the council is known for reaching compromises on important issues as much as for going to court.

“The NRDC has an ‘insiders approach’ and compromise frequently gets you the lowest common denominator of whatever the solution is to the problem,” said Meade. “I’m a little bit anxious on how they are going to handle the Los Angeles office, whether they approach the problem by sitting down with the major parties and try to work out a compromise or take a harder line. . . .”

Alar Warning

Earlier this year, NRDC issued a report warning of an “intolerable” risk to children from a number of chemicals, including daminozide--better known as Alar--which was being used to treat apples.

Critics charged that the council had exaggerated the risks from eating Alar-treated apples and called the group “toxic terrorists” and “fear mongers.” Others, however, including government scientists, said its conclusions were close to the mark.

The report prompted grocery stores to stop selling Alar-treated apples. Most apple growers have stopped using the chemical, which preserved the fruit and improved its color.

NRDC attorney Edgerton said the group hopes its Southern California activities will not only provide it with new insights in addressing environmental problems nationally, but also will enable it to expand its fund-raising activities to underwrite both the Los Angeles and national operations.