Hazardous Materials

Thousands of California companies that use hazardous materials will probably remain in violation of a state disclosure law for years to come, officials said Thursday, because local fire and health agencies lack the manpower and money to enforce compliance. The 1985 legislation requiring hazardous chemical users to disclose the amount and location of their materials by last Jan. 1 mandated that local agencies enforce the law but did little to finance the effort, fire officials said.

Irvine police said Tuesday that a storage locker rented by Dr. Larry C. Ford and his pharmaceutical company, Biofem Inc., contained hazardous materials that could have created deadly fumes if mixed. Although the substances appear to have been part of the company's research, police expressed concern that the materials had been improperly stored at the public warehouse facility, which has rules against hazardous materials.

A spokesman for a coalition of Orange County industrial firms said Friday that he supports a proposed new ordinance that would require businesses to disclose the hazardous materials they keep on hand, potentially signaling a major shift in industry's historic resistance to revealing its chemical secrets. Thomas R. Confer, environmental safety manager for Narmco Materials Inc.

A freight train spilled a hazardous powder as one car derailed and was dragged seven miles near Westport. No injuries were reported and authorities did not immediately evacuate anyone. The spilled chemical was sodium chlorate, which can cause skin, eye and respiratory irritation, with serious illness possible if ingested. A mechanical problem was probably to blame as one car in the 65-car southbound Canadian Pacific Railway freight train jumped the tracks, railroad spokesman Michel Spenard said.

More than 1,500 businesses in Buena Park will be asked to provide information on hazardous materials they store or handle as the Fire Department updates its inventory. The department will take six months to develop a Hazardous Materials Inventory Program, which will enable it to take precautions in dealing with accidents and fires. The businesses will also be asked to develop safety measures as well as plans for handling of hazardous materials.

Garden Grove Fire Chief Lon Cahill is urging residents to attend one of four workshops being offered about the county's plans for disposal of hazardous materials. "This is an important process," Cahill said. "It will occur with or without our input. And it involves decisions that we're all going to have to live with for a very long time." The workshops, sponsored by the Orange County Tanner Advisory Committee and the League of Women Voters, are scheduled to start at 7 p.m.

In just a few weeks, Capt. Bob Reynolds of the Costa Mesa Fire Department will receive computer equipment he says will make the department more effective when faced with hazardous spills.

The Berkeley City Council approved the nation's only local nanotechnology regulations, another first for the city famous for taking the lead banning Styrofoam containers, desegregating public schools and divesting public funds from South Africa. The council on Tuesday decided to amend its hazardous materials law to include nano-sized particles -- some as small as one-millionth the width of the head of a pin. The change takes effect Friday.

The Simi Valley City Council tentatively decided Monday to require businesses to prove that they are handling hazardous materials safely. The proposed ordinance is designed to help the city prevent accidents connected with the manufacture, storage and disposal of hazardous chemicals, officials said. "We want to make sure everyone is operating safely," said Jocelyn Reed, deputy director of the city's Department of Environmental Services. "We're making sure nothing slips through the cracks."

Disposing of oil-soaked rags, used insecticide cans and other hazardous household waste will soon be more convenient for county residents as new collection sites open. Only one site, in Anaheim, now accepts hazardous household trash. But within a year, at least five new sites will open in the county, including two in Huntington Beach and Stanton within a few months, said Janice Oest, coordinator for the county Fire Department's hazardous materials collection program.