Pollutant Warnings Ordered : Health: Supervisors tell firms to notify residents if emissions raise cancer risk by more than 10 in a million.

More than 400 Ventura County residents who live near eight companies that produce toxic air pollutants will be notified that they are at an increased risk of contracting cancer, county supervisors decided Tuesday.

Supervisors said any company that produces enough pollutants to increase the risk of cancer by more than 10 cases in a million people must notify those residents who would be affected.

Overall, the chance of contracting cancer from all causes in the United States is about one in four, or 250,000 in a million, health officials estimate.

If an added risk is assessed at 352 in a million, as it is for residents near Reichhold Chemicals of Oxnard, the total risk would be 250,352 in a million.

In setting 10 additional cases of cancer for every million people as the minimum level for notifying the public, the supervisors adopted the same standard as California’s Proposition 65 uses for pollutants in water.

The increased risk estimates are based on a worst-case scenario, assuming the residents are exposed to the pollutants for 24 hours a day over 70 years.

But environmentalists criticized the 10-in-a-million level as too high, stating that the public has a right to know if it is being exposed to toxic pollutants at all.

“The health risk level should be set at one in a million to provide a greater margin of safety for the public,” said Doris Black, a North Ventura Avenue area resident.

Business interests, however, argued that the level should be higher, requiring public notification only if pollutants increased the risk of cancer by more than 100 cases in a million people.

Lary Reid, a businessman and Ventura resident for 30 years, said supervisors should be more concerned about jobs and hardship on business than about the relatively small risks created by toxic air pollutants.

“I am surprised at the number of people spending time and energy and reams of hopefully recycled paper on something that has such a low risk level,” Reid told the board during a public hearing.

Businessman John Johnson, who operates the Ventura Harbor Boatyard, said the preliminary tests that are required to determine if a risk exists are enough to create a hardship for him.

“We ended up spending $20,000 for a consultant,” he said. “In our little business, that’s a year’s profit.”

The establishment of what constitutes a significant level of increased risk and notification of affected residents is required under state legislation known as the Air Toxics Hot Spots Act.

The phased program began in 1989, when all companies that emitted more than 25 tons a year of the pollutants believed to contribute to causing cancer were required to report their emissions to the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District.

In 1990, companies that emitted from 10 to 25 tons a year were required to report their emissions, and in 1991 companies that emitted less than 10 tons of toxic pollutants were required to tell the district.

Based on the number of people who could be affected and the type of pollutants emitted, the air pollution district then decided which companies were required to perform health risk assessments, which evaluated the health risks to neighbors.

The risk assessments have been done for 18 companies in Ventura County that emit more than 25 tons per year. The others will be done in the next few years.

The companies that cause a significant level of increased risk of cancer must notify residents, but the law left it up to the state’s 34 air pollution districts to determine what level of increased risk should be considered significant.

The supervisors on Tuesday chose 10 in a million as the significant level at the recommendation of Richard Baldwin, chief of the county’s air pollution district. “The criteria set by Proposition 65 is the only one I know of that has been set by law in the state,” Baldwin said.

Terri Thomas, supervisor of the district’s air toxics division, said that 10 in a million is the proper level because it balances the public’s right to know with the cost to industry.

Setting the level at 1 in a million would require 18 companies to notify more than 50,000 people in 23,000 homes. Sending that many notices out could lead residents to believe that the risk was not important, Thomas said.

And setting the level at 100 in a million would result in only two residences being notified by two companies.

“That would result in very little information being given to the public,” Thomas said. “Focus may be drawn away from the higher risk facilities that may warrant attention.”

The district has not yet drafted the letter that will be sent to affected residents, Baldwin said. But he said he would bring it back to the Board of Supervisors for approval.

Baldwin said the district will continue to hold workshops for companies to help them comply with the legislation.

Toxic Hot Spots 1. Reichhold Chemicals Inc. Location: 5980 Arcturus Ave., Oxnard Main pollutant: methylene chloride, styrene Cancer risk*: 352 2. Del Mfg. Co. Location: 950 Richmond Ave., Oxnard Main pollutant: chromium Cancer risk*: 130 3. CalMat Co. Location: 6029 Vineyard Ave., Oxnard Main pollutant: crystalline silica, beryllium, cadmium Cancer risk*: 68 4. Santa Fe Energy Location: Hobson leases, Ventura Main pollutant: chromium benzene Cancer risk*: 55 5. Pacific Operators Offshore Location: 7459 Pacific Coast Hwy. Main pollutant: formaldehyde, benzene Cancer risk*: 22 6. Arco Oil & Gas Location: Ojai Fee Lease, Santa Paula Main pollutant: formaldehyde, chromium, benzene Cancer risk*: 15 7. Conoco Inc. Location: Grubb Lease, Rincon Main pollutant: chromium, cadmium Cancer risk*: 14 8. Pacific Energy Group Location: 2501 N. Ventura Road, Oxnard Main pollutant: chromium Cancer risk*: 12 * Excess cancer risk per 1 million people Source: Ventura County Air Pollution Control District