Northrop, Oil Field Pay AQMD Fines

Penalty settlements by a Hawthorne aerospace plant and a Wilmington oil field accounted for two of the 10 largest agreements reached in April with the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the agency has reported.

In a ranking distributed this week, the AQMD said its seventh-largest penalty settlement for April--$16,000--involved the Northrop Corp. aircraft plant in Hawthorne. Its ninth-largest penalty--$12,000--involved Union Pacific Resources Co.’s Wilmington oil field.

The AQMD had cited Northrop for excessive use of spray paints and solvents, which emit fumes that contribute to air pollution.

Union Pacific Resources was cited for installing pollution control equipment without permits from the agency.

AQMD penalties are usually set in settlement agreements under which firms pay the fines without admitting that they violated agency rules. The largest of the AQMD’s April settlements was $35,000. It involved Baxter Healthcare Corp. of Los Angeles, a pharmaceutical firm that had been cited for digging up a former landfill without a permit and for improperly handling asbestos.