EPA Threatens Permit Denial for Waste-Burning Incinerator

Turning up the heat on a toxic incinerator near Gorman, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday that it will deny a permit for waste burning unless the operators promptly resolve a legal liability issue.

Environmental activists hailed the tentative decision to deny the permit, which would authorize National Cement Co. to continue using waste solvents to fuel its cement kiln, as the company and prior owners have done since 1982.

But the announcement may be a hollow victory for opponents of the plant, because the EPA said it will withdraw the tentative denial if the Encino-based firm resolves a longstanding deficiency in its permit application.

Still, Joe Blackburn of Desert Citizens Against Pollution, a group seeking to shut down the incinerator, called the announcement “a leg in the door” for denial of the permit.

Environmental officials for the first time were saying that “we’re going to start closing the door on the incineration of hazardous waste at this facility if the requirements are not satisfied,” Blackburn said.

National Cement’s old permit expired in 1991, but the company has been allowed to continue burning waste while state and federal authorities review its new application.

The company, which operates on land leased from Tejon Ranch, was told by the EPA more than a year ago that it had failed to meet a federal requirement that applications be signed by owners, as well as operators, of hazardous waste sites.

Tejon, which refused to sign, agreed in principle to sell the land around the plant to National Cement, which would have resolved the issue.

But National Cement asked EPA if it could delay the purchase pending successful completion of the rest of the costly permit review.

Egged on by plant opponents, EPA on Thursday emphatically said no.

“We cannot issue them a permit without the landowner’s signature, and . . . this is very clear; it’s very firm; there are no exceptions,” EPA spokesman Dave Schmidt said.

“We’re not even going to continue processing their permit . . . . In fact, we are proposing to deny it until they meet the signature requirement.”

Thursday’s announcement gives National Cement a reprieve of at least two months.

The EPA said it will hold a public hearing Nov. 18 in Lancaster, accept written comments through Dec. 6 and reach a final decision sometime later. If National Cement complies anytime before that, the tentative denial will be withdrawn.

If the denial became final, National Cement would be allowed to continue burning hazardous waste pending an appeal.

Environmental activists in the Antelope Valley contend that the plant is a significant polluter and a threat to residents’ health. The company says the operation is safe.

Although the plant’s main business is cement manufacture, it also is paid to burn hazardous waste, making it the only commercial hazardous waste incinerator operating in California.

If the permit is denied, National Cement will “still be able to run the plant with or without waste fuel,” Chief Operating Officer Michel Pagnol said.

Pagnol said it “would be lying to say . . . we are very happy” with the EPA announcement, but he expressed hope that the dispute can be resolved.

Besides the signature requirement, National Cement must meet a variety of technical requirements, including proving through a trial burn that the plant does not emit significant concentrations of dioxins or other hazardous substances.

He reiterated the firm’s desire to assure that it can get a permit before buying the land from Tejon Ranch.

National feels “somewhat blackmailed” by Tejon, which is “taking advantage of the situation” by imposing onerous sale conditions, Pagnol said.

“To my knowledge, the only sticking point . . . is that National would like to tie the resolution of the actual land purchase into the resolution of the technical issues,” responded Jack Hunt, president of Tejon Ranch Co.” Tejon is about 30% owned by Times Mirror Co., publisher of The Times.

Last month, Chemical Waste Management withdrew its plan to build a hazardous waste incinerator in the Kettleman Hills of Kings County.