County Turns to Weinberger for SOS Waste-Disposal Site

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to draft a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger asking the military to provide a disposal site for at least 1,800 barrels of explosive wastes illegally stored at two Santa Clarita Valley manufacturing plants.

The board also voted to ask Gov. George Deukmejian to urge Weinberger to find a military disposal facility for the 50 tons of explosive chemical wastes.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who proposed the action, said the owner of the plants, Space Ordnance Systems, had “contacted virtually every available storage or disposal facility in the state, including all Department of Defense facilities” but had been turned down.

Because SOS manufactures flares and other explosive devices for the military, Antonovich told the board, “It is essential that the Department of Defense assist in the disposal of this toxic waste.”

Disposal of the more than 1,800 barrels has sparked a controversy between the Department of Defense and the South Coast Air Quality Management District, with state air-pollution officials contending that the military should accept the wastes. Weinberger has indicated, however, that the Department of Defense is not willing to dispose of the barrels, throwing the responsibility back on the air-quality district.

Next Monday, the air-quality district will be asked to approve a permit allowing SOS to burn the volatile and hazardous waste at a remote desert site 25 miles east of Lancaster. However, the district rejected an identical request from SOS on April 10.

The illegally stored barrels were discovered last spring during a county raid of the two plants. Owners of SOS are facing criminal charges of violating toxic material control laws, and the county Regional Planning Commission is considering revoking the operating permits at the two sites.

Last week, the planning commission asked SOS to halt work at one plant and reduce operations at another until the air-quality district could rule on the burn permit next Monday. SOS officials agreed to the suspension. If the air-quality district refuses to allow the material to be burned, the planning commission said, it will decide whether to shut down the plants, which employ 350 people.

According to county officials, the two plants have continued to produce and illegally store hazardous wastes despite orders issued a year ago by the county to dispose of them.