Exide lead contamination

Pallet of scrap lead-acid automotive batteries ready to be recycled

The Exide lead contamination, in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, came from a battery recycling plant that emitted lead, arsenic and other dangerous pollutants over decades that contaminated as many as 10,000 homes in half a dozen working-class, Latino communities near the plant. Exide Technologies, owner of the lead-acid battery smelter located in Vernon, agreed in 2015 to close the facility while the massive cleanup of the contaminated soil will take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.[1] The residents have expressed outrage over the failure of state regulators to act as the plant was allowed to operate without a full permit while documented violations were occurring. The Department of Toxic Substances Control, which allowed the plant to operate, is in charge of the cleanup and is finding that the many residents do not trust them. The residents must give them permission to test the soil around their home yet many feel betrayed by this government agency.[2]

Background

Recycling lead in a lead-acid battery recovery facility

Lead-acid batteries are used in automobiles, golf carts, fork-lifts, and motorcycles. They are recycled by grinding them open, neutralizing the acid, and separating the polymers from the lead. In the US, 97 percent of the lead from car batteries is recycled which is the highest recycling rate for any commodity. Most states require stores to take back old batteries.[3]

The 15-acre battery recycling plant (6.1 ha) operated without a full permit while documented violations were occurring. The smelter was issued an “interim status document” by the California Department of Health Services in 1981. Exide took ownership of the smelter when they purchased the Gould-National Battery and its assets in 2000.[4][5] Exide Technologies agreed to close the facility in 2015 to avoid federal criminal charges.[1]

Reverb Furnace Feedstock Room of the Exide Technologies' Vernon, Calif. facility

Environmental impact

The soil beneath the facility has been polluted with high levels of lead, arsenic, cadmium and other toxic metals. The groundwater was also polluted from the operation of the plant and battery acid drained onto public streets.[5]

Studies have indicated that as many as 10,000 homes in half a dozen working-class, Latino communities near the plant have had their homes and yards contaminated by the lead emissions. The decades of air pollution from the Exide Technologies facility has potentially contaminated the nearby communities of Boyle Heights, Maywood East Los Angeles, Commerce, Bell, and Huntington Park.[5]

Residents had long been concerned about the air pollution from the plant that was found to have emitted lead, arsenic and other dangerous pollutants over decades. Lead is a potent neurotoxin that puts children at-risk for learning disabilities, lower IQs and other developmental problems who may have acquired lead poisoning from playing outdoors.[1]

Testing and clean-up

DTSC Preliminary Area of Investigation map

The cleanup of the soil contaminated with lead is being overseen by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control.[6] In August 2015, the department announced that soil testing had shown that the toxic dust had deposited lead in as many as 10,000 homes. Department officials said that they had not previously been involved in a lead cleanup case in which the number of properties was this high.[7]

Nineteen homes received first priority for cleanup starting in December 2014 based on the test results.[8] The residents of two neighborhoods in Boyle Heights and Maywood were notified in August 2015 that they could have their soil tested for lead after being identified by the South Coast Air Quality Management District as the communities most likely to have been contaminated by the lead emissions. Contaminated soil was removed and replaced at 146 of the homes closest to the facility in these communities.[7][9]

In October 2015 the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, frustrated with the slow pace by the state, designated $2 million to “facilitate" the cleanup effort by hiring contractors and consultants, performing soil testing at 1,000 homes during the following two months, and sending community outreach workers to neighborhoods around the plant. A timeline and strategy was also included in the resolution to force state regulators, Exide "and other responsible parties to fully fund and undertake this cleanup.” The state had used all but $1 million of $9 million Exide placed in a trust fund for residential cleanup.[10] By the end of February 2016, county crews began testing soil at homes in Commerce.[11] The state allocated $176.6 million for the cost of testing and cleanup of about 2,500 of the most contaminated yards. Job training program for community members to be employed in cleanup has been planned by the Department of Toxic Substances Control. It is also establishing a local office to improve and coordinate information sharing efforts. Local community groups are working with the agency for outreach in signing up residents for testing.[2]

High lead levels were found in the soil at Lorena and Rowan Elementary Schools in the summer of 2015 by the Department of Toxic Substances Control.[12]

Legislation

The state had dedicated about $7 million to test and clean up homes in 2015.[6] The state assembly voted in 2016 to provide $176.6 million for the cleanup.[13][14] State legislators held an informational hearing at the Capitol on January 26, 2016 where Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez (D-Echo Park) noted the rapid mobilization for the Porter Ranch gas leak near a wealthier community while the slow progress in these neighborhoods where most residents are Latino and low-income should be disheartening to all legislators. Gomez said "We don't want to send the wrong message. That if you live ... in Porter Ranch that you're more important than the folks that live in East ... or Southeast Los Angeles."[6]

At the January 26, 2016 hearing, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) said the Department of Toxic Substances Control "has not done a good job" and that he would urge officials to act more urgently on the clean-up.[6] The extent and duration of the lead contamination has raised concerns about longstanding problems at the department. The Governor and state legislators saw this as an wake-up call to seek new laws, hold oversight hearings, and work on other reform efforts.[15]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Barboza, Tony (December 21, 2015). "How a battery recycler contaminated L.A.-area homes for decades". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  2. 1 2 Kim, Jed (May 5, 2016). "In Los Angeles, lack of trust makes lead cleanup tougher". Marketplace. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  3. ↑ Rosenthal, Elisabeth; Lehren, Andrew W.; Zabludovsky, Karla & Agren, David (8 Dec 2011), "Lead From Old U.S. Batteries Sent to Mexico Raises Risks", The New York Times, retrieved 5 February 2016
  4. ↑ "Timeline: Exide's run-ins with regulators". Southern California Public Radio. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 Vives, Ruben & Grad, Shelby (March 12, 2015). "Q&A: Exide closure a long-sought win for working-class neighborhood". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Mason, Melanie (January 26, 2016). "L.A.-area and state officials call for quicker cleanup of Exide plant contamination". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  7. 1 2 Barboza, Tony (August 18, 2015). "Exide cleanup: Toxic lead removal could be California's biggest yet". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  8. ↑ Larkin, Michael & Guinyard, Toni (December 5, 2014). "Second Phase of Exide Recycling Plant Cleanup Begins". NBC Southern California. Retrieved 5 February 2016.
  9. ↑ Aguilera, Elizabeth (June 10, 2016). "Environmental review will delay expanded Exide cleanup about a year". Southern California Public Radio. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  10. ↑ Barboza, Tony (October 27, 2015). "Exide cleanup: L.A. County approves $2 million to speed lead removal at homes". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  11. ↑ Aguilera, Elizabeth (February 29, 2016). "Exide: LA County crews begin testing soil for lead in Commerce". Southern California Public Radio. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  12. ↑ Aguilera, Elizabeth (August 23, 2016). "LAUSD to begin removing lead-tainted soil from 2 schools near Exide". Southern California Public Radio. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  13. ↑ White, Jeremy B. (April 14, 2016). "California Assembly spends millions to clean up Exide plant". Sacramento Bee. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  14. ↑ Bradford, Ben (April 14, 2016). "Assembly Approves $177M Boost For Battery Plant Clean-Up". Capital Public Radio. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  15. ↑ Barboza, Tony (May 28, 2016). "For public officials, accountability for Exide lead contamination has been scant". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
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