Supervisors Ask D.A. to Close National City Recycling Plant

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday called on the district attorney’s office and air-pollution regulators to find a way to shut a National City oil recycling firm if it is deemed to be a public health hazard.

The supervisors unanimously made the request of prosecutors and the Air Pollution Control District after disclosures last week that the firm, Nelco Refinery Corp., has continued to operate despite a May 24 notice from the health department declaring it a public nuisance and ordering operations to cease unless new pollution equipment is installed.

The notice was issued after there were three oil spills within the last nine months at Nelco and nearby residents and school children complained of noxious fumes and breathing difficulties, county health officials said.

Nelco is also suspected of releasing benzene, a potent carcinogen, into the air when it recycles the used oil by boiling and converting it into an asphalt emulsion for roofing compounds, said Larry Aker, assistant deputy director of environmental health services for the county’s Department of Health Services.

Aker also said that the company, situated near the Civic Center Drive exit off Interstate 5, has been the source of a spate of complaints about odors and burning eyes.