Anaheim : Steel Salvage Firm Has Yet to Dispose of Waste

An Anaheim steel salvage firm is hauling about 250 pounds of new waste a week to a landfill in Arizona, but it has not begun to dispose of a mountain of PCB-contaminated shredded metal waste ordered removed by the city, the company’s attorney said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Anaheim City Council, which has expressed growing frustration over the lack of progress in disposing of the waste, postponed a hearing Tuesday on the fate of the company--Orange County Steel Salvage Inc.--because Councilman Irv Pickler, who has opposed the firm, was not present.

The hearing to terminate or modify the company’s permit was rescheduled for Feb. 17.

Floyd L. Farano, an attorney for the Anaheim-based salvage firm, said the company has been hauling newly generated waste since Jan. 9 as part of a court agreement with the state.

On Sept. 17, state health officials filed suit to block further stockpiling of hazardous waste and to require the firm to prepare a cleanup plan. The state is also asking for unspecified fines. A hearing last week in Orange County Superior Court was continued to next month.

The company has been storing at its East Frontera Road site a growing pile of residue containing, the state says, nearly double the level of toxic PCBs considered hazardous by the federal government. The waste can’t be disposed of at regular landfills and must be discarded at more expensive, special landfills designated for hazardous waste. The newer waste does not contain PCBs and can be taken to regular landfills, Farano said.

Polychlorinated biphenyls--or PCBs--are a suspected human carcinogen.