Lopez Landfill Workers Safe, Doctor Says : Environment: Witness says men who were sickened by fumes last year came in contact with toxic gases during uncommon excavation work.

Lopez Canyon Landfill is safe for Los Angeles sanitation workers even though one worker was hospitalized for 11 days after being overcome by fumes at the dump last year, the city’s industrial hygienist testified Friday.

Dr. Alex Guss told a hearing board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District that he had investigated the March 9, 1989, incident involving the worker, Keith O’Kray of Newhall, and determined that he probably had been exposed to hydrogen sulfide, a highly poisonous gas.

He said O’Kray, and other workers who also became ill that day, came into contact with a pocket of several gases during excavation work for installation of a gas collecting system. Guss said that unless they dig into underground gas pockets, workers normally do not come into contact with high concentrations of toxic gas at the landfill.

Guss’ testimony came during the sixth in a series of hearings the AQMD board is conducting in an examination of noxious gas emissions at the only operating landfill owned by the city of Los Angeles.

Neighbors of the dump in the northeast San Fernando Valley, along with their city and state elected representatives, have asked the hearing board to close the landfill until the city controls methane gas emissions there.

AQMD inspectors, as recently as April, found that many areas of the dump emitted methane gas at levels above 10,000 parts per million, 20 times more than the 500 p.p.m. allowed under state law. Methane gas is not toxic itself but is an indication of the presence of other more toxic gases, such as hydrogen sulfide and benzene, Guss said.

Guss, who testified for about six hours, said that several days after the March, 1989, incident he tested for the presence of toxic gases in the air at the landfill. He said he found that all gases were within safe levels for workers who spend eight hours a day, five days a week at the dump.

Under questioning from board members, Guss said he had not tested gas levels in the surrounding community of Kagel Canyon where at least three children became ill after breathing noxious fumes last Oct. 12.

“We have people out there close to this landfill saying it stinks and they want us to do something about it,” said board member William F. Banks.

Hearing board member Sharon Scott asked whether testing could be carried out in the community before the next hearing July 5. Deputy City Atty. Christopher Westhoff, representing the Bureau of Sanitation, said the city is now conducting such testing. But Scott asked that AQMD engineers conduct their own tests.

After the hearing, Rob Zapple of Kagel Canyon, who has led the campaign against the landfill, said the incident involving the worker has been whitewashed for the board.

“Actually, seven workers got sick that day,” he said. “Two were hospitalized.”

According to a city report, O’Kray, 33, and another worker, Carlann Paul, 29, were hospitalized after they were exposed to unearthed materials at the north end of the landfill. Paul was treated and released while O’Kray remained at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank for 11 days.

City officials have said O’Kray spent six months recovering from the gas exposure and has since returned to work.

Guss testified Friday that some people, including children and adults with chronic illnesses, are more sensitive to toxic gases than others.