Finn Seeking New Checks on Firms Using Toxic Matter

For the second time in two weeks, City Council members on Tuesday will be considering a measure to head off a repetition of problems experienced by officials in an April chemical fire in Sun Valley.

The new proposal, scheduled to go before the council’s Planning and Environment Committee on Tuesday, would require companies handling toxic chemicals to disclose any past involvement in chemical fires or spills and to guarantee payment for the cleanup of future mishaps.

The council on Wednesday tentatively approved another ordinance that would require more than 56,000 businesses to register toxic chemicals stored in buildings throughout the city, a plan officials called a model for the country. It is expected to receive final approval Wednesday.

That proposal, like the new one, was introduced by Councilman Howard Finn, who represents the heavily industrial northeast San Fernando Valley.

Proposal Made Before Blaze

Finn actually proposed a citywide inventory of hazardous substances before the April 13 blaze at a Sun Valley chemical warehouse where 56 people, including 52 firefighters, were sickened by toxic fumes.

But the fire provided ammunition for Finn’s lobbying for the bill.

Fire officials complained they were unaware that the warehouse contained the dangerous chemical cyanide. The inventory is designed to provide firefighters with advance warning on the contents of burning structures.

It was shortly after the Sun Valley fire that Finn proposed the measure that will come before a council committee next week.

It would require businesses using hazardous materials to undergo background checks. He pointed out that Marianne Pratter, owner of Research Organic and Inorganic Chemicals Co., the Sun Valley warehouse that was gutted, had pleaded guilty to illegally storing hazardous material in a warehouse she owned in New Jersey.

Denial of Permits Sought

Finn said he wants the city to deny permits to companies with a history of accidents involving hazardous substances.

He also has proposed that, as a condition for obtaining a city permit, businesses using hazardous materials be required to show proof of insurance to cover the expense of cleaning up after a toxic fire or spill.

According to William McCarly, the city’s chief legislative analyst, the cost of the cleanup after the Sun Valley fire was about $100,000. The federal Environmental Protection Agency, which performed the cleanup, has asked the owner of the business to reimburse the government. However, “there is no indication the owner has insurance to cover the cleanup expenses,” he said.

Fire officials privately have called Finn’s proposal unworkable.

Inadequate Data Cited

They point out that there is no way to check whether an applicant for a permit to keep hazardous materials has been involved in an incident outside the Los Angeles area.

“An adequate data base for hazardous materials incidents is not now available at the federal, state or local level to provide the needed information for background investigations for previous involvement of specific individuals in hazardous-materials incidents,” McCarly said in a report to the Planning and Environment Committee.

Finn said applicants for city permits who fail to disclose previous incidents would be guilty, under his proposed ordinance, of a misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum $1,000 fine and six months in jail.

Finn has proposed that the city seek state and federal legislation to set up networks for identifying businesses with a history of hazardous-materials accidents.

McCarly also questioned the viability of Finn’s proposal to require hazardous-material users to carry cleanup insurance.

“The imposition of such a requirement could place an economic hardship upon certain businesses,” the legislative analyst said. He said the insurance industry has been reluctant to insure users of hazardous materials because of the huge sums being awarded by courts to victims of chemical fires and spills.

Finn said companies could be required to put up part or all of their assets as insurance, instead of taking out policies.