Torrance OKs Allied-Signal Test Facility : Report Indicates ‘Negative’ Impact From Hazardous Chemicals

The Torrance City Council has unanimously accepted an environmental assessment that finds there would be no adverse effects if an aerospace company builds and operates a wind tunnel and laboratory that would use hazardous and flammable chemicals to test turbines.

After nearly an hour of testimony from residents concerned about noise and safety, the council Tuesday accepted the “negative declaration” and gave initial go-ahead to the construction of a 2,350-square-foot building for the wind tunnel and a 9,080-square-foot laboratory at the existing Allied-Signal Aerospace Co. on 190th Street.

The project still needs the normal building and planning approval required from the Planning Commission. The commission’s decision can be appealed to the City Council.

If the council had rejected the assessment, Allied-Signal would have been forced to prepare a more thorough environmental impact report. Instead, the council asked that Allied-Signal provide a report detailing the effects of an accident under a worst-case scenario.

The Allied-Signal plant--formerly Garrett AiResearch--produces hydraulic controls, air data computers, aircraft ground equipment and cabin pressurization and temperature control systems for a wide variety of military and commercial aircraft and satellites.

Ammonium Nitrate

Under the proposed project, the laboratory would use and store up to 500 pounds of ammonium nitrate, a flammable solid; 200 pounds of ammonium perchlorate, an explosive solid and 275 gallons of acutely hazardous hydrazine solution.

Allied-Signal intends to use the chemicals as fuel to test small, gas turbines that typically power hydro-electrical generators used in missile guidance systems.

Allied-Signal has operated a similar laboratory for 30 years at its plant on Sepulveda Boulevard near Los Angeles International Airport. The Sepulveda Boulevard plant was sold earlier this year and plant officials plan to move operations to the Torrance facility.

The wind tunnel would be used to test wind-powered emergency generators for military aircraft.

The 86-acre Torrance plant contains 1.5 million square feet of building area, with an additional 4,000 square feet under construction. It is north of the Mobil Oil Corp. refinery storage area. There are 3,200 people working the day shift, and 60 workers from the LAX facility would join them, company officials told the city in April.

The Allied-Signal plant is bordered on the north by the San Diego Freeway, with commercial and residential uses to the west and a residential neighborhood to the east.

Half a dozen residents from those areas told the council that they fear the use of such chemicals will expose them to unacceptable dangers. They also said they worry about noise produced by the wind tunnel.

Kay Main, who lives north of the San Diego Freeway, said the potential danger from the chemicals at the plant only adds to the risk of living near the troubled Mobil refinery.

“We’re plagued by explosions from Mobil now,” said Main, who has lived in her home for 43 years. “It scares the living daylights out of me.”

William Lettunich, principal of Hamilton Adult School on 182nd Street, said he is concerned that noise from the wind tunnel might be heard in the classrooms.

Sound Dampeners

Robert Wyman, an attorney representing Allied-Signal, said the wind tunnel would make less noise than traffic on Crenshaw Boulevard and the San Diego Freeway. The wind tunnel would be surrounded by sound-dampening material and will be pointed toward the San Diego Freeway to drown out the noise, he said.

Councilman Tim Mock said he recommended the worst-case scenario report, which was approved by the council, because he wanted Allied-Signal to assess all potential risks to nearby residents. State and federal guidelines do not require such an analysis, he said.

“I want to know what is the risk to the citizens of Torrance in regards to these chemicals you are bringing in,” Mock told Allied-Signal representatives.

Under a worst-case scenario, Wyman said the fumes from a fire or explosion involving ammonium nitrate, ammonium perchlorate and hydrazine would be equivalent to the fumes created by the burning of two automobiles.

Residents should not be concerned, he said, because the chemicals used in the laboratory would be stored underground in accordance with state and federal guidelines. He said the chemicals would be used in small quantities, and in a worst-case scenario all damage would be confined to the plant.

Safety Record

Wyman stressed that there have been no injuries as a result of the use of these chemicals in the 30 years Allied-Signal has operated its Sepulveda laboratory.

In 1979, one worker died and five others were hospitalized when they inhaled argon gas fumes that apparently had leaked from a storage tank at the then-Garrett AiResearch plant. That same year, 23 workers at the plant near LAX were hospitalized though not seriously hurt when they inhaled hydrochloroethylene fumes that escaped from a tank that overheated when its cooling system was inadvertently shut off.

Fire Department records for 1988 indicate that the plant in Torrance uses and stores several hazardous and acutely hazardous chemicals, including 510 gallons of nitric acid, 40 pounds of potassium cyanide, 330 gallons of sulfuric acid, 120 gallons of formaldehyde, 330 gallons of hydrogen peroxide, 220 gallons of hydrofluoric acid and 275 gallons of hydrazine solution.

Ralph Wortman, a spokesman for Allied-Signal, said the plant uses and stores all chemicals according to state and federal guidelines.