Hawthorne

The Northrop Corp. Aircraft Division is consolidating 11 hazardous waste storage areas into a single facility on El Segundo Boulevard near Cerise Avenue. The $6.5-million center, where chemical wastes will be stored until they are taken by truck to a treatment plant or disposal site, will begin operations at the end of the month, according to a Northrop spokesman. Ten of the existing waste sites are in Hawthorne and the 11th is in El Segundo.

The state Department of Health Services, which issued a permit for the facility, said it will contain storage areas above and below ground within a protected building. It is licensed to handle such materials as acids, solvents and petroleum wastes. Northrop said the facility, which is in an industrial area, complies with all environmental and safety regulations.