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Use of Incinerator at Toxic Site Protested

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Residents and environmental activists are demanding that the Environmental Protection Agency halt the use of an incinerator to clean up a former chemical mixing plant.

The incinerator, which has been used since April 1998 to remove hazardous solvents on the former Pemaco plant site, is releasing dioxin, a cancer-causing chemical, activists said.

“They’re supposed to be protecting the community,” said Elsa Lopez, project director for Mothers of East Los Angeles-Santa Isabel. “There are actually new, safer technologies that can be used to clean up a site. Why can’t our community have those?”

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Residents told EPA officials at a public meeting Saturday that they want the EPA to suspend use of the incinerator until the agency meets with residents to identify an alternative plan. Another meeting will be held in early March to address the neighbors’ concerns.

EPA officials said the incinerator is producing about 5 1/2 pounds of pollution a day, including trace amounts of dioxin and other emissions that can be found in car exhaust. The levels of toxic substances, officials said, are not a threat to the community.

“This is a very small incinerator and we believe that it’s safe,” said Randy Wittorp, a spokesman for the EPA.

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The four-acre site at 5050 Slauson Blvd., along the Los Angeles River, was added to the list of Superfund priority sites in January, Wittorp said.

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