State EPA Cites Navy for Toxic Waste Storage : Environment: Regulatory agency recommends a hefty fine for violations at North Island. But the waste laws aren’t yet enforceable at military facilities.

The Navy has violated hazardous waste laws by improperly storing and labeling toxic and radioactive waste at the North Island Naval Air Station, according to a complaint issued by the California Environmental Protection Agency.

The complaint, which stems from a routine inspection conducted in April, alleged that the Naval Public Works Center and the Naval Aviation Depot stored several types of waste that they had no permit to accept--including arsenic, cyanide and other deadly chemicals.

The two commands also failed to store the waste safely, to label it properly and, in some cases, to determine whether it was hazardous, according to the 13-page complaint. It recommended a $204,800 penalty--one of the larger penalties ever proposed by the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control.

In a statement released Wednesday, state EPA Secretary James M. Strock said the hefty fine was intended to show that the Navy cannot expect special treatment when it violates environmental regulations.

“If a private company had committed these violations, a large fine would be appropriate,” he said. “We do not believe a government agency should be treated any differently.”

The complaint and corrective-action order, issued Sept. 4, is not the first to be levied against the Navy, said Allan Hirsch, a spokesman for the Department of Toxic Substances Control. But he said that, if proposed federal legislation aimed at what some lawmakers call “the environmental double standard” is approved, this could be the first waste-related fine that the Navy is forced to pay.

State and federal regulators are now unable to enforce provisions of the 1976 solid and hazardous waste law at military bases and other federal facilities. The government has long contended that it has sovereign immunity and is thus exempt from paying fines.

But, under a bill now pending, the federal government would be subject to the same penalties as civilian polluters. The bill, called the federal facilities compliance act, was passed by the House in June, and similar legislation is pending in the Senate.

In California, which has more contaminated sites at federal facilities than any other state, the bill could have enormous consequences.

“To date we have never actually collected a monetary fine from any military base,” said Hirsch. “However we do feel strongly that the military should have to go through the same process as the private sector and pay the fine. . . . We don’t feel that the issue is fully settled yet. This bill coming up may change the ground rules.”

The most recent complaint was issued after state inspectors observed more than 1,000 drums of waste that had been stored longer than 90 days in an unpermitted storage area at the military base in Coronado, Hirsch said. The inspectors also noted that the Navy was storing mercury and phosphorous wastes in a cluttered, unsafe manner.

Radioactive waste was stored at the Naval Aviation Depot in violation of the Navy’s hazardous waste permit, Hirsch said. The depot occupies 350 acres just north of the carrier pier facing Harbor Island. Most of the other violations occurred at the Public Works Center’s 4-acre transportation storage disposal facility in the center of the Naval Air Station.

The complaint requires the Navy to correct all 21 of the alleged violations. Specifically, it orders the Navy to remove all unauthorized hazardous waste from the unpermitted area and to segregate the mercury and phosphorous drums.

Failure to comply with the order could result in additional fines and penalties, Hirsch said.

Chief Petty Officer Martin Wicklund, a Navy spokesman, said the Navy is reviewing the allegations contained in the complaint. Naval officials have expressed the desire to meet with state regulatory officials to discuss the charges, he said, but no date has been set.