Firm Targets Toxic Waste

A company whose operations are based in Camarillo says it has developed a new process for cleaning up toxic wastes.

The system will be tested at a major oil company refinery in the Los Angeles area and at a site to be selected by the Environmental Protection Agency, according to the firm, First International Resource Marketing Inc.

Pliny P. Mier, First International’s vice president of operations, said the Reneu process separates toxic wastes from soil and water without heat, pressure or other energy input.

“This amounts to an important new approach that can save both time and money,” he said.

Arthur Neibrief, First International’s executive vice president, declined to identify the oil company that has agreed to test the technology. “We have a confidentiality agreement,” he explained. “Oil companies hate to call attention to contamination on their property.”

William Wismann, First International’s chairman and chief executive officer, who is one of the inventors of the process, said in a statement that it can decontaminate an average gasoline station site in less than one week. This is much faster than alternate means, he said.

Officials of the company are traveling in Europe and the former Soviet Union to meet with government and industry leaders who are interested in the Reneu system. In addition to the toxic cleanup process, First International has developed a soil-enriching product, Nature’s Earth, which will go into production in about a month.

First International is moving its corporate offices from Camarillo to Century City, but plans to keep its operations at their present location on Flynn Road in Camarillo.