State Fights Plan to Close Toxic Waste Incinerator

State regulators charged with protecting the environment are fighting a decision by their federal counterparts that could close a controversial Gorman-area plant that is the only commercial facility in California permitted to incinerate liquid hazardous wastes.

The state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control pleaded with the federal Environmental Protection Agency last month to “seriously reconsider” its position and said the plant’s closure would be a “tremendous disappointment.”

The dispute was revealed in a letter by a top state official made public Thursday by environmentalists who want to close the plant. A spokesman for the official confirmed the letter’s contents.

At issue is the National Cement Co.’s Los Robles plant just north of the Los Angeles-Kern County line. It burns liquid wastes as fuel to heat cement-making kilns, and has for years been criticized by environmentalists who contend that the plant emits hazardous air pollution.

The company’s bid for new five-year federal and state operating permits has been stalled because the cement company operates on land leased from Tejon Ranchcorp--whose parent firm is 30% owned by Times Mirror Co., which publishes The Times. Tejon Ranch is refusing to co-sign the documents, saying the company cannot vouch for the accuracy of the cement company’s statements.

And federal officials insist that the permits cannot be legally issued unless Tejon signs because Tejon owns the land and must share responsibility.

However, taking an unprecedented legal position, state regulators are arguing that the company’s long-term lease on the site ought to satisfy the ownership requirements under state and federal law.

Federal EPA officials said Thursday they are considering the state’s arguments but for now are sticking to their position, which prevents issuance of new permits. State officials said they continue to hope that the federal EPA will change its stance.

Cement company President Don Unmacht said Thursday he is “optimistic” that the dispute between the state and federal agencies can be resolved to allow the company to continue operations. But he declined to say what the company would do if the EPA remains steadfast.

Without new permits, the plant would have to stop burning hazardous waste. Although its permits have expired, it is unclear how long the firm can continue to incinerate wastes if no permits are issued.

Without the plant, the state will be forced to dispose of liquid hazardous wastes by burying them in landfills, which are scarce.

Tejon Ranchcorp, which owns 270,000 acres stretching from northern Los Angeles County almost to Bakersfield, decided that it could not co-sign the permit applications because they required the company’s pledge under penalty of perjury that it could vouch for the accuracy of the application, said Allene Zanger, general counsel for the company.

She said the land company cannot do that because it has had nothing to do with hazardous waste incineration other than granting the cement company a long-term lease that began before it began burning the waste.

The state letter and other correspondence was released by Desert Citizens Against Pollution, an Antelope Valley-based environmental group that has doggedly fought the burning of hazardous wastes. The group predicted Thursday that National Cement has in essence lost its fight for new permits.

“We now have the best lawsuit in history if they try to proceed,” said Joe Blackburn, an organizer with the group. “Now that the community knows about this, we’re not going to let it go,” Blackburn said.

The cement plant since the early 1980s has burned liquid hazardous wastes as a supplemental fuel, at a state-permitted rate of up to 1,200 gallons an hour. The operation is a joint venture between Encino-based National Cement and Systech Environmental Corp.