Investigation of Failure to Report Spill to Be Sought : Environment: An official says Farmont Corp. did not disclose the 500-gallon oil leak near Ojai for two months.

By CAITLIN ROTHER

Oct. 13, 1992 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Ventura County’s hazardous materials specialist said Monday that he will ask the district attorney’s office to investigate Farmont Corp.’s failure to report a spill of about 500 gallons of diesel oil in the Ojai Valley.

Steve Baker, a county Fire Department specialist, said Farmont should have immediately reported the spill, which occurred in mid-July in an orange grove on property that Farmont leases to Mason-White, a Somis grower.

“It’s their baby,” Baker said of the 40,000-gallon tank that sits on a 2,000-acre Farmont-owned parcel west of Ojai. The developer has proposed turning 200 acres of the parcel into a world-class golf course.

The spill went unreported to state and county environmental officials for two months, a violation of state and federal laws.

Greg Brose, supervisor of the district attorney’s consumer and environmental protection division, declined to comment until he knew more about the case.

“It’s too early right now,” Brose said. “We’ll have to take a look and see what everybody has to say.”

Baker said he will also discuss with the county Agricultural Commission whether charges should be filed by the district attorney against Farmont for failing to report the existence of the oil in the 40,000-gallon tank and a 20,000-gallon tank that sits next to it. State law requires that storage of hazardous materials must be reported to the county Fire Department.

Farmont attorney Marc Charney said his company did not report the spill because officials initially believed that it was only 10 or 15 gallons.

“If it was a spill that size, it was not, to my knowledge, a reportable spill,” Charney said.

But state law requires that any business that stores at least 55 gallons of hazardous materials, such as diesel oil, is required to immediately report any amount released into the environment, county Fire Prevention Supervisor Wayne Maynard said.

Charney said Farmont officials expect to spend up to $28,000 to excavate the soil and aerate it until the toxic fumes evaporate, and then remove the two oil tanks. Neither Farmont nor Mason-White were using the tanks, company officials said.

County Environmental Health Specialist Reem Dajani ordered Farmont to clean up the site after she received a telephone tip on Sept. 17 that the incident had occurred.

Meanwhile, Mason-White representatives and Farmont officials are still disagreeing over who should have reported the incident and who should pay for the cleanup, which was scheduled to begin Monday, Charney said. Farmont officials believe that Mason-White should pay for the cleanup because the company’s contract requires property maintenance, Charney said.

“Everyone’s pointing their finger,” said Dajani, who is finishing a report on the incident, which she intends to turn over to the district attorney.

The spill occurred about 200 yards from a cliff that overlooks the Ventura River. The oil did not enter the river, and the contaminated soil poses no immediate danger to public health, Dajani said.

Farmont and Mason-White officials told Dajani that vandals opened the tank valve, she said.

Mason-White representatives said they discussed the spill with Farmont officials after it was discovered in mid-July, but Charney said that to his knowledge, Farmont did not learn of it until early August.

Stan Roberts, who manages the orange grove for Mason-White, said he called Dajani on Sept. 17 and 18 because he saw that Farmont had not begun the cleanup. He was pleased Monday to hear Baker’s remarks.

“It’s like someone pulled the baton (from me) right there,” he said. “They’re running the end of the race and I’m applauding.”

Alaisdair Coyne, an opponent of the Farmont golf course proposal, said he was happy to hear of Baker’s comments.

“I think the evidence is increasingly showing that Farmont was aware of the size of the spill in late July, and it’s terrible that they specifically chose to hush it up rather than follow reporting procedures that are required by law,” he said.

“Many Ojai Valley residents are concerned that if a corporation like Farmont behaves in this manner before their project is passed, what sort of a neighbor are they going to be once the project is approved?”