Business Leaders Support Hoag Expansion Proposal : Development: Hospital officials stress community needs as Newport Beach City Council hears more testimony on the controversial plan.

The City Council heard continued testimony Monday night on the controversial Hoag Hospital expansion plan as business leaders turned out in support of the project for the first time in the six-month battle.

Before a packed council chamber, representatives from the business community expressed their support for the development that has faced opposition from local residents because of the presence of hazardous gases at the site.

“We recognize that it is an issue about continuing the quality of life we have come to expect here in Newport Beach,” said Richard Luehrs, president of the Newport Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce. “It’s not just a development issue.”

Meanwhile, hospital officials stressed Monday that their development would be an asset to the community.

“We urge the council members to side with the thousands of citizens in Newport Beach who need and want this facility and deserve your support,” said Norman Dahl, a member of the hospital board. “We are not like other businesses and public institutions. . . . We are a nonprofit organization.”

Hoag has faced opposition because of the presence of hazardous gases at the site, a matter of dispute since the hospital’s plan was first proposed last fall. Last week the issue came to a head when three environmental agencies raised additional concerns.

Officials of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the state Environmental Protection Agency and the state Regional Water Quality Control Board say methane, benzene and hydrogen sulfide gases at the site could pose environmental problems and need to be studied further. The gases are believed to emanate either from defunct underground oil wells or from wetlands at the site.

The AQMD and the state EPA are particularly concerned about the hospital’s plans to burn off excess hydrogen sulfide gas that is currently collected through an underground system of pipes. For the past two decades, the gases have been burned off through a towering flame that glows 24 hours a day on West Coast Highway. The burn-off prevents the gases from accumulating underground in environmentally unsafe quantities.

Agency officials said the hospital’s environmental report does not detail the amount of the additional gas that would be burned after the expansion, making it impossible to determine whether the new level of emissions would be acceptable.

Hydrogen sulfide is a flammable, poisonous gas that can cause nausea and, in instances of prolonged exposure, can prove fatal. Large concentrations of methane can cause explosions, and benzene, which may also be present at the site, is a known carcinogen.

Water quality experts are calling for more testing of the soil and ground water to determine the levels of petroleum hydrocarbons such as benzene.

“The (environmental document) does not go into very much detail,” said Melanie A. Marty, acting chief of the air toxicology unit at the state EPA. “They seemed to be saying everything was OK, but the information wasn’t in the document to sustain that. Everything may be OK . . . but I think they need to look into it before they plan to build something there.”

Hospital officials countered that environmental studies prepared by an outside firm provide methods for addressing these safety concerns. The firm’s recommendations included lining the earth with a plastic tarp to prevent the gas from entering new buildings, and using underground pipes to collect the gas. The gas would be cleaned and used to fire hospital boilers while the excess would be burned high in the air.