Air regulators on Thursday ordered Lineage Logistics to strengthen odor-control measures, expand air monitoring and improve communication with residents as cleanup of the burned warehouse continues.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District hearing board unanimously approved an abatement order on the second day of a public hearing into a series of air quality violations tied to the June fire.
The board did not require Lineage to pay any financial penalties, which several elected officials, including Mayor Karen Bass, had requested in light of the numerous air quality violations it had been issued.
Lineage is required, among other things, to:
- Each week remove 10%, or about 8.8 million pounds, of the food waste stored in the facility at the time of the fire;
- Conduct more monitoring for airborne pollutants further from the warehouse;
- Increase communication with the community, including providing updates on the cleanup in Spanish.
If Lineage does not meet the requirements of the order, including the cleanup timeline agreed to at the hearing, a second hearing will be called and the company could face penalties for those violations.
Several community members who traveled to Diamond Bar to attend the hearing spoke in support of the order but added that they hoped to see the business pay fines for the air quality violations and ultimately cease operating the building.
Lineage representatives said many of the order’s requirements had already been implemented at the site. The community communication plan and increased air quality monitoring is expected to happen within five days.
Representatives for AQMD said the order was designed to strike a balance between swift food waste removal and work to control the odors plaguing the community. AQMD focuses specifically on air pollution regulation.
Dominic DiCarlo, Lineage’s vice president of global safety and compliance, said that he believes all of the rotting bulk food items will be removed by next week, without citing a specific date. He added that it would take another week to remove the rest of the material and fully disinfect the facility. Mayor Karen Bass ordered that all biohazard food waste be removed from the facility by Aug. 14. It’s unclear if they’ll meet the mayor’s deadline.
DiCarlo said the company expects to spend between $80 and $100 million on the cleanup and remediation of the burn site. He claims that about 80% of the approximately 88 million pounds of food stored at the facility has been removed to about ten landfills and recycling facilities in Southern California and Arizona.
“This order will ensure that there are enforceable conditions on [Lineage] as it completes this cleanup project, which will minimize odor impacts on the community and expedite removal of food waste which is the source of these odors,” said Josephine Lee, Senior Deputy Counsel for AQMD.
The order came after dozens of area residents described their struggles with polluted and putrid air since the warehouse in Boyle Heights caught fire on June 17.
AQMD staff members testified before the board about their work to monitor air quality and investigate conditions at the warehouse since the fire broke out.
The board questioned several staffers about their efforts to reduce pollutants and odors from escaping the warehouse and contaminating the air for people who live and work nearby. Several board members voiced concerns that filters installed at the warehouse during cleanup were not adequately removing harmful emissions.
While Lineage reported that no ammonia had been released or burned during the fire, AQMD board member Mohan Balagopalan said he suspected that some amount of the refrigerant had been released into the air.
Board member Cynthia Verdugo-Peralta said she believed more should be done to expand the area where the agency monitors air quality. Several residents who live a mile or more from the warehouse told the board that they had experienced severe health problems linked to pollutants since the fire.
“Obviously, the pollution is not going to stop at the freeway,” Verdugo-Peralta said, referring to the 710 Freeway, where AQMD’s Lineage-related air monitoring ends.
Jason Lowe, a deputy executive officer with AQMD, said that initial air monitoring found hazardous levels of pollutants were contained within a short distance of the warehouse.
“The elevated levels only extend a few blocks, that we’ve seen,” Lowe said. “And when we go away from those few blocks, we are not seeing elevated levels anymore with our monitors.”
Several residents said otherwise during the hearing’s public comment period.
Verdugo-Peralta added that she believed the neighborhoods should have been evacuated. She agreed with residents who said the warehouse fire was the latest in a series of environmental catastrophes threatening the health of the neighborhood.
“It’s a sad situation that the whole region is being poisoned by industry,” Verdugo-Peralta said.
The order also requires Lineage to report to AQMD daily and weekly on air monitoring and cleanup progress.
