Garbage Haulers to Watch for Toxic Dumping

SANTA ANA —  Garbage haulers throughout Orange County will join forces with county officials to keep an eye out for dangerous industrial chemicals dumped illegally in ordinary trash, under a program announced Monday by the district attorney.

The effort is the first in the nation to team private companies with public environmental officials in an effort to detect illegal dumpers, county officials say. It will focus on the trash created by about 7,000 businesses, although eventually the district attorney’s office hopes to expand it to household garbage cans and dumpsters.

At a press conference Monday, Dist. Atty. Michael Capizzi said the new approach is intended to stop the dumping of dangerous materials in the county’s landfills, where they can foul the ground, water and air.

Capizzi predicted that as many as 50 companies a year will face criminal charges as a result of the program. But he stressed that he hopes the main benefit of the program will be prevention because it will send industry a message that unlawful disposal of hazardous wastes will not go undetected.

“It’s a classic case where an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure,” Capizzi said.

About 14,000 tons of garbage a day is hauled to Orange County landfills, and several hundred tons of that consists of illegally dumped chemicals from businesses and households, said Frank Bowerman, director of the county’s Integrated Waste Management Department. The materials include everything from motor oil to acidic or cancer-causing solvents.

Garbage truck drivers in the county, employed by about 20 companies, will be trained by county health officials to notice the telltale signs of industrial dumping, such as strong odors and corrosion or staining of dumpsters. They also will be provided a list of companies known to generate hazardous waste so they can give their trash extra attention.

The garbage companies have agreed to call a 24-hour hot line at the county’s environmental health office if they find a problem they believe is serious or recurring. The calls will then be investigated by Orange County’s hazardous materials strike team, which is composed of officials from about 10 city, county and state environmental agencies.

“This provides another pair of eyes for us,” said Bob Merryman, director of Orange County’s environmental health office, which annually inspects companies that generate hazardous waste.

Because the private trash companies did not want to be turned into toxic cops or spies, it took several months of discussions between them and the district attorney’s office to work out the details of the arrangement.

The companies agreed to participate in the program only if they could notify their customers first if they found a violation. Only repeated, serious violators will be turned in to the hot line.

“If we find a customer with a real problem and they’re not willing to comply, we will notify the agency. We’ll do it only when we think there’s negligence,” said Bob Barber, environmental vice president of Waste Management Inc., which operates two of Orange County’s largest waste-hauling companies.