News Brief : Compromise on Cannery

Officials from the Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation this week proposed easing waste disposal monitoring at the Pan Pacific Fisheries cannery on Terminal Island, but it could be several weeks before the Board of Public Works decides whether to accept the proposal.

Mal Toy, senior engineer for the bureau, suggested at a board meeting on Monday that the cannery be permitted to discharge an average of 100 milligrams of fish oil and grease in each liter of waste per day, with no single discharge exceeding 200 milligrams.

Currently, the city requires that no discharge from the cannery exceed 100 milligrams--a standard Pan Pacific Fisheries has said is impossible to meet. Officials from California Home Brands, which owns Pan Pacific Fisheries, have threatened to close the cannery unless the city changes its monitoring practices.

Toy said he will present the proposal to the company within the next week. If the company agrees to the new standards, the bureau will return to the board for approval, he said. Company officials could not be reached for comment.