O.C. Sends 12 Experts to Aid Quake Workers in the Bay Area

Orange County by late Tuesday had dispatched a team of 12 experts, including structural and civil engineers, building inspectors and a geologist, to help assess the earthquake damage in the Bay Area, which may result in a temporary slowdown of building inspections in the county, officials said.

The team, which included 11 county employees and a former county employee who volunteered his services, is needed in San Francisco for critical tasks ranging from determining whether homes are safe to occupy to determining any lingering hazards on bridges and roadways, Orange County officials said.

Ronald J. Novello, director of regulations for the county’s Environmental Management Agency, said the team represents about a fifth of his engineering staff and about 10% of his building inspection staff. The employees’ absence, he said, will slow down the processing of building plans from private developers.

“This will affect production by about 10% to 20% and may cause us to slip (behind) on our schedule two or three days,” Novello said.

It was not known how long the team would be needed in Northern California, but the county will be reimbursed by the state for the salary and expenses of those employees sent to the disaster area, officials said.

Emergency management officials worked around the clock Monday and Tuesday to round up engineers from both the public and private sector. But they revised earlier estimates that another 80 engineers would be sent to the Bay Area on Thursday, saying they have yet to get a formal request for more help.

As for the shortage of building inspectors and engineers in Orange County, John W. Sibley of the county administrative office said: “Essentially we’ll just double up here with the (staff) that’s left, which is not atypical of an emergency response. . . . I can assure you our workload will be covered, but our first concern is the emergency.”