Newport Company's Toxic Pollution Poses 'Unacceptable' Health Risk to Community

The South Coast Air Quality Management District announced today that it has ordered a Newport Beach company to reduce toxic emissions and to warn neighbors of the pollution.

The agency rejected a proposed plan to address the problem from Hixson Metal Finishing, a chrome plating and anodizing facility.

“While Hixson has taken steps to reduce its toxic emissions and emissions have gone down, the health risk to the surrounding community remains at unacceptable levels,” said Barry Wallerstein, the agency’s executive officer. “Additional controls are needed and needed quickly.”

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The agency is requiring Hixson officials to warn their neighbors of the cancer risk due to the hexavalent chromium emissions from its facility at 817- 853 Production Place. The company must submit a new pollution-control plan by June 8.

Hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen, is released during the metal plating and finishing process.

A message left with the company’s president, Douglas C. Greene, was not immediately returned.

When the company came under fire from the agency last year, Greene said Hixson’s executives were not sure if their plant was the sole source of emissions.

Hixson executives were, nevertheless, eager to cooperate with the agency. Greene said last year the company had spent “several hundreds of thousands of dollars” on upgrades that the agency suggested.

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City News Service