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(Brian Johnson, DTSC) I've got about
a hundred people throughout the state who get up and go to work every day
thinking about how they can improve the quality of life in communities by making
sure that toxic harms are not occurring. DTSC is a part of the public
health and environmental protection team that we have here in state government.
(Narration) The Department of Toxic Substances Control is part of the California Environmental
Protection Agency.
(Brian Johnson, DTSC) Were the hazardous waste folks
but we also have some of the broadest authority so we can take care of things in air
we can take of things in water but our hook is hazardous waste.
(Narration) DTSC is the only environmental agency in California that conducts
criminal investigations.
(Brian Johnson, DTSC) We're the folks who go out physically into the businesses to check what they're
doing, how they're managing their hazardous wastes. We have peace officers that
go out conduct investigations,
they serve search warrants, they do arrest people for environmental crimes that are
serious.
(Narration) Working together with other local and state agencies
DTSC's enforcement branch goes after businesses that have bad
environmental practices. (Brian Johnson, DTSC) We work with
police departments. We work with district attorneys, with city attorney's, with the
attorney general of California, we work with the U.S. EPA
coordinating our enforcement actions, are inspections, to make sure that we get the
biggest *** for our buck.
(Narration) Harmful toxics can be stored or used in places you may not expect.
It's DTSC's job to make sure that these toxins are removed from the
community, the site is cleaned up and the people responsible
are held accountable. (Brian Johnson, DTSC) We're currently working on an enforcement action at a
facility that it was storing asbestos waste in just the most abominable conditions.
It was a warehouse and a parking lot right next to each other that had had bags of
torn open asbestos waste and this facility was located right next door to a high school.
(Brian Johnson, DTSC Lead in Jewerly event) In our investigations
we found jewelry that in some cases contained
over a thousand times
one thousand times the legal limit.
(Narration) Even an everyday item like cheap costume jewelry can pose a threat.
(Brian Johnson, DTSC) Sometimes you can smell a chemical
but sometimes you can't. In the case of lead in jewelry there's so much jewelry
coming into California particularly for children that have lead components in them.
We have had tragic consequences
in Minnesota young child died
ingesting a piece of leaded jewelry and died of acute lead exposure.
That's why we are so active in that arena.
(Narration) DTSC deals with hazardous waste in any situation...
even in the aftermath of a drug bust.
(Brian Johnson, DTSC) We have done thousands and of *** lab cleanups over the years. They're
super dangerous. We're the ones that show up once the police have collected their
evidence and they're done with the site.
We come in
create order out of disorder, make sure that those chemicals are packaged
properly and get to the proper disposal facility.
(Narration) DTSC is also directing its attention on businesses and facilities that handle
or store hazardous waste in low-income communities.
(Brian Johnson, DTSC) We're really trying to focus our efforts in those
communities to try and help those folks
create a better quality of life. (Narration) DTSC's enforcement branch
wants to make sure businesses handle hazardous chemicals in a safe and legal
way.
(Brian Johnson, DTSC) So we want to have this system that is progressively, it's predictable, it's
fair and
consistent across the state and that
when we go to a business...we mean business.