Los Robles Plant Closer to Getting New State Permits

State environmental officials Monday took another step toward granting new operating permits for a controversial hazardous waste burning facility near Gorman, rejecting demands for an environmental impact report and complaints by residents that the plant causes them health problems.

The state Environmental Protection Agency also announced it plans to decide on issuing new 10-year permits, possibly by May, 1994, for the Los Robles plant jointly operated by the Encino-based National Cement Co. and the Systech Environmental Corp.

The state’s rejection of residents’ health complaints and demands for an environmental impact report came in the form of a proposed decision to grant the project a declaration that no such report is needed. Such a declaration can be granted only if the state concludes the project will have little environmental impact.

Under state environmental law, citizens and public and private organizations now have until Dec. 31, 1993, to respond to the state’s proposal. State officials said they plan to hold a public hearing on the project in late 1993.

Antelope Valley environmental activists, who have accused the facility of emitting hazardous air pollution and making nearby residents ill, criticized the state decision not to require an environmental report and vowed to fight it. A spokesman for one environmental group said the group plans to sue the state.

The Los Robles plant, which since 1982 has burned liquid wastes to fuel the kiln in its cement manufacturing process, is the only commercial hazardous waste incinerator in California. That makes it a high-profile issue for state officials trying to find alternatives to landfill disposal.

Plant opponents argue that an environmental impact report is needed to fully assess the effects of the facility, located just north of the Los Angeles-Kern County Line, on the surrounding sparsely populated area. The state and the plant’s operators maintain it does not pose a health hazard.

In a four-page statement, the state concluded the plant is not the cause of nearby residents’ health problems and that there is no evidence indicating the plant has received radioactive wastes as foes contend. The plant has continued to operate since the spring of 1991, when its previous permit expired, pending a final decision on the new permit.

Joe Blackburn, an organizer with the environmental group Desert Citizens Against Pollution, accused the state EPA, the agency responsible for regulating the plant, of secretly being an advocate for it. State officials deny the EPA has been a promoter of the plant.

Blackburn said his group, aided by the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, plans to file a lawsuit against the state challenging the negative declaration and seeking the environmental study. The plant began burning wastes in 1982 without undergoing the analysis.

Meanwhile, the Tejon Ranchcorp, which leases the plant site to National Cement, said it is proceeding with plans to sell the property to the cement company, which would make it easier for the company to receive a needed federal permit. Tejon’s parent company is 30% owned by the Times Mirror Co., which publishes The Times.