Companies Accused of Damaging Ozone : Environment: The “Who’s Who of American Ozone Depleters” lists 31 Valley plants. Many of the firms say the report used outdated information.
An environmental group Tuesday named 31 San Fernando Valley-area plants it said release chemicals harmful to the Earth’s protective ozone layer, with Rockwell International’s Canoga Park facility listed as the worst offender.
Many of the companies, including Rockwell, said the figures were outdated and that they have reduced the use of the chemicals. A Rockwell spokesman said the company has begun a program to eliminate use of the chemicals entirely.
The Canoga Park defense contractor ranked 82nd among 3,014 U.S. companies that produce millions of pounds of three potent chemicals that erode the stratospheric layer that screens harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation from the sun, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The Washington-based council’s “A Who’s Who of American Ozone Depleters” was based on the companies’ 1987 emission reports to the Environmental Protection Agency. Each of the companies produced at least 2,000 pounds that year of one or more of the three chemicals: methyl chloroform, carbon tetrachloride and chlorofluorocarbon 113, called CFC-113 for short.
The NRDC acknowledged that the list of ozone-depleters includes more than 200 companies that have already eliminated the destructive chemicals, reduced their usage or set phase-out deadlines, but did not identify those firms. The majority, however, use them with no pollution controls, the environmental group said.
The 31 Valley-area firms, 11 of which ranked in the top 1,000 ozone-depleters, include several prominent defense contractors. Van Nuys and Burbank are each home to six of the plants and Chatsworth to three. Canoga Park, Pacoima, Palmdale, Valencia and Woodland Hills have two each.
Rockwell was cited for three facilities. Its two plants in Canoga Park ranked 82nd and 540th and its Palmdale site was No. 1,158.
Other Valley-area defense contractors listed included Lockheed Aeronautical Systems, whose Burbank plant ranked 664th and its Palmdale facility, 1,523rd; the Marquardt Co. of Van Nuys, 767th; Litton Guidance and Control of Woodland Hills, 715th, and Allied-Signal Aerospace Co. of Sylmar, 2,119th.
Steve Lafflam, an environmental engineer at Rockwell, said the company has reduced the use of CFC-113 at its Canoga Avenue plant, which ranked 82nd, by 26% between 1987 and 1988. Use of methyl chloroform dropped 6%, he said.
The company plans to eliminate use of CFC-113 by 1996 and methyl chloroform a short time later, he said.
“Somebody ought to ask the NRDC why they’re not showing the big reductions,” Lafflam said.
Representatives of nine other firms, asked for comment, offered similar defenses--that the statistics were outdated and their usage of the chemicals had declined. Three firms declined to comment. Others could not be reached for comment.
Robert Knapp, public relations director for Litton, which manufactures aircraft guidance systems, said the company uses the chemicals but does not violate any laws.
“We use these totally within industrial safety standards,” he said. “We use them in quantities acceptable within the law and they are disposed of fully in accordance with all legal and environmental requirements. . . . We are an environmentally concerned company.”
The other Valley firms that ranked in the top 1,000 were Crane Co. of Burbank, 215th; HR Textron Inc., 277th; Easton Aluminum Inc., 413th; SFE Technologies of San Fernando, 464th; Polycarbon Inc. of Valencia, 807th; Eaton Corp. of Westlake Village, 835th and Pharmavite Corp. of Arleta, 968th.
Paul Bolar, director of regulatory affairs for Pharmavite, said the pharmaceutical company has “dramatically reduced” its use of methyl chloroform in the production of gelatin capsules.
He said that by singling out companies on its list, the environmental group was creating a black and white contrast between good companies and bad companies.
“Almost all industries rely on chemicals to some extent,” he said.
CFC-113 and methyl chloroform are primarily used to clean and degrease electronic components and metal equipment. Carbon tetrachloride is used in the production of chlorofluorocarbon, petroleum refining and drug manufacturing.
Scientists say reactions between ozone and chlorofluorocarbons, the industrial chemicals widely used in refrigerants, air conditioners, spray cans and solvents, are responsible for ozone loss over both the North and South Pole. They confirmed late last year that the record-setting ozone hole over Antarctica in 1989 covered a wider area than initially thought.
Ultraviolet radiation can cause skin cancer and eye cataracts in humans and, environmentalists say, damage crops and ocean ecosystems.
Alan C. Miller reported from Washington and Aaron Curtiss reported from Chatsworth.
RELATED STORY: A12
