Council Scrutinizes Cost of Inventory : Fire Hazards Plan Questioned

The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to take a closer look at the cost of Councilman Howard Finn’s proposal to create a multimillion-dollar computerized inventory of hazardous industrial chemicals in the city in order to protect firefighters.

The council voted to send Finn’s proposed ordinance to the Finance Committee for study, asking whether the program could be paid for entirely by fees levied on businesses that produce or use hazardous materials and whether federal aid is available.

Finn’s proposal is aimed at preventing a recurrence of the problems that faced firefighters at a chemical warehouse blaze April 13 in Sun Valley, where 56 people, including 52 firemen, were sickened by fumes from burning chemicals.

Lack of Information

Fire Department and County Health Department officials complained that they were unaware of the dangerous chemicals the warehouse contained, such as cyanide.

Finn’s ordinance would require all companies that possess hazardous chemicals to register the type and amount with the city, creating a system to provide firefighters with timely warning of such contents in a burning building.

The Fire Department and a spokesman for the city administrative officer differed Wednesday over the cost of the mammoth program, which initially envisions keeping an up-to-date file of chemicals stored by 56,000 firms. Finn has said it may be expanded later to cover more than 100,000 companies.

$3.3-Million Estimate

Bill Koenig, principal administrative analyst for the city administrative officer, told the council that his office estimated the cost of the first year of Finn’s proposal at $3.3 million.

Fire Marshal Craig Drummond estimated the first-year cost at $1.7 million, but said after the hearing that the Fire Department and the administrative office used different methods to estimate the cost.

The Fire Department’s estimate did not include the cost of the computer equipment that will be needed to keep the records up to date, which was included in the administrative estimate, nor did it take into account long-term costs such as pensions for the 52 additional city employees the plan envisions.

A report by the council’s Planning and Environment Committee, headed by Finn, estimated the cost of the first three years of the program at $11.3 million. Koenig said his office supports a smaller program with a start-up cost of $2.3 million and a three-year bill of $8.7 million.

Finn and Drummond said they expect the program to be supported by fees paid by the companies covered by the program. They estimated the fee would be a flat sum, probably $61 to $68 per company.

Complaints Foreseen

“That’s totally absurd,” said Councilman Marvin Braude. “Politically, that won’t fly--40,000 small businesses will be here to complain they shouldn’t pay the same as Standard Oil.”

Braude complained that the proposal was not thought out in detail and that it encompassed too broad a field at the beginning.

“You talk about regulating 56,000 businesses and you haven’t decided how you’re going to regulate them or how much they must pay. . . . If you go forward without all the details, you don’t have an efficient program,” he said, recommending that some method be found to concentrate at first on identifying a smaller number of the most dangerous locations.

Finn countered that the city now runs the risk of paying heavy damages in a civil suit if a firefighter is disabled by chemical fumes. “One incident could cost more than this program,” he said.