RADIOACTIVE DIALS REMOVED.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

NORTH HOLLYWOOD - EPA officials announced Thursday they had removed more than a million radioactive WWII-era airplane dials from an abandoned warehouse, which may have to be demolished because of widespread contamination.

Stored at the Preservation Aviation Warehouse, 10800 Burbank Blvd., the dials were coated with radium paint to illuminate them during night flights. Officials estimated that as many as 10 percent of the gauges were broken, releasing radioactive particles.

``We've done a number of radiation contamination (cleanups), but I don't recall a dial cleanup in the past,'' said Keith A. Takata, director of the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund division.

``A single dial leaking radiation isn't a big problem. But a million of them, and many of them broken, becomes a big problem.''

During the cleanup, which began last May, the dials were shipped to out- of-state landfills at a cost of about $5 million. The estimated cost of the cleanup is $9.3 million, and EPA officials plan to recover some of the costs from the warehouse owners.

Preservation Aviation bought and sold aircraft gauges and other parts from World War II-era aircraft, which were stored in the red-brick warehouse.

The contamination was originally discovered by the city's Building and Safety Department, which notified the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Radiation Management Department, which in turn called the EPA.

EPA officials conducted tests last May and found radiation levels inside the warehouse were 100 times higher than background levels, while a yard had 10 times the background level.

Robert Wise, on-scene coordinator for the cleanup, said radiation levels outside the building had dropped to acceptable levels, but the sidewalk remained cordoned off. Cleanup of the interior of the warehouse continues, and officials should know next week whether the building will have to be demolished.

Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge said the cleanup was a good example of several different agencies working together.

``We don't know what's inside some of these industrial warehouses in the San Fernando Valley,'' LaBonge said. ``The EPA was here for us.''

Wise asked that residents who know of other abandoned buildings that may contain hazardous materials call the EPA at [phone].

Lisa M. Sodders, [phone]

lisa.sodders(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Workers in hazmat suits vacuum a warehouse complex that once held vintage aircraft gauges painted with radioactive paint so they would glow in the dark. The EPA will decide if the warehouse must be demolished or if it can be decontaminated.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer