Nitric Acid

I read with a great deal of interest the article (Dec. 30), "New State Study Challenges Old Smog Theories." Having worked for several years on the subject of elimination of smog-forming components from automobile exhaust gases, it is my firm conviction that smog from this source can only and exclusively be eliminated by the reduction to an absolute minimum of the nitrogen oxides formed in the combustion of gasoline and air in the internal combustion...

A reddish-brown nitric acid cloud that escaped from a Hughes Aircraft facility in El Segundo sent seven people to the hospital and forced the evacuation of 400 employees from six buildings Thursday. What caused the release and exactly how much of the chemical leaked out have not been determined, said Don Johnson, a spokesman for the El Segundo Fire Department. Nitric acid, a strong corrosive, is considered highly toxic. Hughes uses it to etch electronic circuit boards for airborne radar systems.

A spill of toxic nitric acid in Lynwood was cleaned up late Tuesday after it forced evacuation of 16 square blocks, authorities said. The liquid was mopped up by 11:15 p.m., Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Eric Smith reported. A Los Angeles Red Cross worker said people evacuated from nearby homes and businesses returned to them shortly thereafter. A 300-gallon tank of the chemical burst at 6 p.m. in the Chrome Nickel Plating Co.

Five people in Westminster were hospitalized with respiratory problems Thursday after being overcome by a cloud of nitric acid, authorities said. The fumes were created by a merchant trying to extract silver from ore by mixing nitric acid and another chemical, said Capt. Kirk Summers of the Orange County Fire Authority. Four men and a woman were taken to West Anaheim Medical Center for treatment of headaches and shortness of breath, Summers said. The incident occurred about 10:30 a.m.

A woman was hospitalized and 50 workers were evacuated Thursday when two waste chemicals were accidentally combined at Parker-Hannifin Corp., resulting in the release of a toxic gas, the Orange County Fire Department said. Diana Devine, 32, was taken to Healthcare Medical Center in Tustin with mild respiratory problems, said Patti Range, a Fire Department spokeswoman. About 1.30 p.m.

The Whittier Drum & Vacuum Co. of Whittier has agreed to pay $33,279 to settle a civil suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by the district attorney's office over an acid spill in Azusa and Irwindale last July. District attorney's investigators said Andy W. Burchett, then a co-owner of Whittier Drum & Vacuum, picked up 21 containers of nitric acid solution at Western Disposal Co. in Azusa and planned to take them to the BKK landfill in West Covina.

A Hacienda Heights man was ordered Monday to stand trial for allegedly blinding and disfiguring a Glendale woman by throwing acid in her face. After a two-day preliminary hearing, a Glendale Municipal Court judge ordered Emad Fawzi Kalta, 20, to be arraigned on July 10 in Pasadena Superior Court. Kalta is charged with aggravated mayhem, mayhem resulting in great bodily injury and assault with a caustic chemical. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

A homemade bomb exploded in an Oxnard alley Tuesday afternoon, sending a spray of acid across the ground and a nearby wall, officials said. The small explosion, caused when chemicals were mixed in a two-liter bottle, startled residents on the 1400 block of Juniper Street in south Oxnard. "It was so loud it made us jump," said Rod Grant, a longtime resident. "I assumed it was kids playing around, but when I went to pick up the bottle, my hands started to sting."

Firefighters and county health officials Friday discovered about 500 gallons of chemicals stored at a house next to Sunkist Elementary School, in an area not zoned for such a use, according to a city spokeswoman. A shed behind a house in the 300 block of Sunkist Street apparently had been used as a bottling plant for Med-Mar Metals, a company that produces metallic finishes, said Sheri Erlewine, a city spokeswoman. The company is owned by James Beatty; the house is owned by his father.