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 August.

Date: Aug. 1 Location of Incident: 1222 E. Pomona St., Santa Ana Material Handler: Europa Wheels Materials Involved: Chlorine Date: Aug. 2 Location of Incident: Glassell Street & Taft Avenue, Orange Material Handler: Englehardt Industries Materials Involved: Plating waste (20% cyanide) Date: Aug. 5 Location of Incident: 1100 W. Stewart Drive, Orange Material Handler: St. Joseph Hospital Materials Involved: Formaldehyde Date: Aug. 7 Location of Incident: 1500 E. Raymond Way, Anaheim Material Handler: ACCW Inc. Materials Involved: Sewage Date: Aug. 8 Location of Incident: 17905 Skypark Circle, Irvine Material Handler: Unknown (illegal disposal) Materials Involved: Formaldehyde Date: Aug. 9 Location of Incident: 2828 W. Ball Road, Anaheim Material Handler: Pool cleaning truck Materials Involved: Cyanuric acid Date: Aug. 10 Location of Incident: 1815 N. Tustin Ave., Orange Material Handler: Unknown Materials Involved: Hydrochloric acid Date: Aug. 10 Location of Incident: 600 S. Harbor Blvd., La Habra Material Handler: Beckman Industries Materials Involved: Phenol Date: Aug. 12 Location of Incident: 16601 Armstrong Ave., Irvine Material Handler: National Technology Materials Involved: Fire run-off (chemicals) Date: Aug. 12 Location of Incident: 2121 S. Lyon St., Santa Ana Material Handler: Olympic Asphalt Materials Involved: Asphalt sealer Date: Aug. 13 Location of Incident: 19000 Jamboree Blvd., Irvine Material Handler: Beckman Instruments Materials Involved: Potassium chromate Date: Aug. 15 Location of Incident: 1323 S. State College Parkway, Anaheim Material Handler: Thorton Steel Materials Involved: Carcinogenic chromate dust Date: Aug. 16 Location of Incident: 555 S. Silverado Way, Anaheim Material Handler: City of Anaheim Materials Involved: Diesel fuel Date: Aug. 17 Location of Incident: Commercial Street, Anaheim Material Handler: Unknown Materials Involved: Non-toxic starch glue Date: Aug. 17 Location of Incident: 29813 Ortega Highway, unincorporated Material Handler: Unknown Materials Involved: Machine replenisher Date: Aug. 17 Location of Incident: 357 N. Cliffwood Park St., Brea Material Handler: Specplate Engineering Materials Involved: Cyanide solution Date: Aug. 21 Location of Incident: 3051 E. La Jolla St., Anaheim Material Handler: Property owner Materials Involved: Waste oil Date: Aug. 22 Location of Incident: 10th Avenue & Virginia Way, South Laguna Material Handler: Watts Trucking Materials Involved: 100 gallons diesel fuel Date: Aug. 22 Location of Incident: 240 W. Fletcher Ave., Orange Material Handler: Scope Packaging Materials Involved: Ink Date: Aug. 22 Location of Incident: Ritchey Street & Edinger Avenue, Santa Ana Material Handler: Unknown Materials Involved: Oil Date: Aug. 24 Location of Incident: Orangethorpe Avenue east of Miller Street, Anaheim Material Handler: Sante Fe Railroad Materials Involved: Battery acid Date: Aug. 24 Location of Incident: 13151 Hilton Lane, Garden Grove Material Handler: Unknown Materials Involved: Unknown Date: Aug. 29 Location of Incident: Paseo Sombra, El Toro Material Handler: Unknown (illegal dump) Materials Involved: Waste oil Date: Aug. 29 Location of Incident: Children’s Museum of La Habra Material Handler: Same Materials Involved: Mercury Date: Aug. 30 Location of Incident: 16301 Gothard St., Huntington Beach Material Handler: Unknown Materials Involved: Slurry seal Date: Aug. 31 Location of Incident: 300 W. Halesworth St., Santa Ana Material Handler: Unknown Materials Involved: Concrete dye Source: Orange County Health Care Agency, environmental health division HAZARDOUS SPILLS REPORTED BY CITY/COMMUNITY September 1988--August 1989 City: Spills Anaheim: 35 Huntington Beach: 30 Orange: 26 Irvine: 24 Garden Grove: 23 Santa Ana: 21 Brea: 13 Placentia: 12 Costa Mesa: 10 Newport Beach: 8 La Habra: 6 Dana Point: 5 El Toro: 5 Laguna Hills: 5 Tustin: 5 Westminster: 5 Yorba Linda: 5 Fullerton: 4 Los Alamitos: 4 Rural canyons: 4 Buena Park: 3 Mission Viejo: 3 Stanton: 3 Fountain Valley: 2 San Juan Capistrano: 2 Cypress: 1 Laguna Beach: 1 Midway City: 1 Seal Beach: 1 Sunset Beach: 1 County beaches: 1 Source: Orange County Health Care Agency, environmental health division.