Officials File Motion on Toxic-Gas Plant

County pollution officials filed a motion in Superior Court on Thursday requesting that an injunction be lifted so they can enforce regulations against a La Mesa producer of toxic gases.

Phoenix Research Corp. obtained the injunction in 1987 after the San Diego Air Pollution Control District denied the company a permit to operate, said County Supervisor George Bailey, whose district includes La Mesa.

Last month, the district again denied Phoenix a permit because a new “scrubber,” or toxi c s-recovery system, failed to meet safety standards in case of a leak, Bailey said.

“Adding the scrubber has reduced the risk of public exposure to toxics, but Phoenix still doesn’t meet APCD safety standards for a worst-case scenario,” he said.

Simulation tests on the scrubber in April achieved a 99.9% control of emissions, but under conditions less rigorous than originally agreed to by Phoenix, Bailey said.

The firm was given 10 days to file an appeal with the district’s hearing board but did not do so, he said. A hearing is scheduled for Nov. 14 before Superior Court Judge Robert Thaxton.

The pollution control district got involved in late 1985 when it decided that Phoenix, which had been quietly producing poisonous gases at the location since 1973, would need a permit to operate.

The company produces arsine and phosphine, gases used to alter the electrical characteristics of silicon and other materials. Even brief exposure to 500 parts per million of arsine is almost instantly lethal, destroying red blood cells.

According to the La Mesa city manager, Phoenix has an agreement with the city to stop making the gases at the plant by Dec. 31.

Phoenix moved to La Mesa in 1973, into an existing building on a frontage road to Fletcher Parkway, across from Kaiser Medical Center and a heavily populated area.