This article was first published by the nonprofit newsroom LA Public Press on Aug. 30, and is republished here with permission.
Soil cleanups of more than 6,400 parkways tainted with toxic lead levels spewed by the former Exide Technologies battery smelter are scheduled to start in September. That’s according to state officials at a informational meeting for residents organized by the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) in August.
Nearly 80 people showed up to the event in Huntington Park, hosted at the offices of a nonprofit housing developer, Newstart Housing Corporation, on August 21. More people showed up by zoom.
Residents questioned state and federal environment officials, fuming about health conditions they say developed because of long-term exposure to lead. Representatives of DTSC held the meeting to discuss the government’s future plans, including how a Superfund designation might mean more cleanups.
Parkways are the strips of land wedged between the streets and sidewalks, usually with plants, trees and grass. In addition to lead, lab tests of soil samples from the parkways showed other heavy metal contamination, including arsenic, cadmium, copper and zinc.
State contractors will clean parkways located in East Los Angeles, Boyle Heights, the City of Commerce, Huntington Park, Maywood, Bell and other unincorporated areas.
Steve Hariri, supervising hazardous substances engineer and branch chief of residential cleanups with the DTSC, said the parkways work will be funded with $67 million the state allocated in the 2023 and 2024 budgets.
At the onset, the restoration work would begin with 10 to 15 total field crew workers. The DTSC plans to notify residents with ailing parkways three days before contractors begin soil removal and replacement, according to Hariri.
“DTSC is collaborating closely with each jurisdiction to ensure parkways cleanups are completed as quickly and efficiently as possible,” said Elizabeth Leslie-Gassaway, DTSC Information Officer in an email.
She said timing to complete cleanups of parkways is contingent upon “successful collaboration” with the cities involved. Cleanup schedules will be posted on the DTSC website in coordination with local governments, according to Leslie-Gassaway.
Cleaning of residential properties continues, too. At the meeting, state officials said contractors hired by the DTSC are treating 80 properties a month where lead pollution measures between 200 and 400 particles per million (PPM) per soil kilogram, said Mehdi Battahar, the agency’s Assistant Deputy Director.
According to Battahar, DTSC has treated 5,352 residential parcels out of 5,940 planned for cleanup, targeted for completion by June of 2025. So far, California has allocated about $772 million for residential, parkway, and plant cleanups.
However, thousands of potential cleanups on polluted lots are still in limbo due to lack of funds.
The DTSC has identified a total of 10,100 properties within a 1.7-mile radius from the plant that may need cleanups. That means more than 4,000 parcels would remain untreated with levels below 200 ppm, but above 80 ppm, if no additional state funds are assigned.
There are no safe lead concentration levels in soil, according to the EPA. In the midwest, the EPA recently lowered lead screening levels in January 2024 to consider remediation at qualified sites gauged with 100 to 200 ppm, lower than the standard the EPA maintains for Region 9, which includes California.
Michael Brogan, Region 9 press officer with the EPA, said in an email if the site is added to the Superfund’s National Priority List (NPL), the agency “would begin a remedial process that includes determining the specifics risks for the site and developing risk-based cleanup levels.”
“There is no minimum that would trigger cleanups,” said Brogan. “EPA establishes site-specific cleanup levels. EPA cannot clean up below background levels.”
The science of each site’s lead risk assessment includes evaluation of data collection, exposure, dose-response, and risk characterization.
The California Department of Public Health has recommended lowering the screening level to 80 ppm, lower than the EPA’s. According to the department, “the mean geogenic soil lead concentration in California is less than 20 ppm and at 95th percentile is less than 35 ppm.”
The lack of certainty of additional cleanups have pushed residents like Joe Gonzalez to continue the years-long crusade to get the government to clean up Exide’s pollution. He denounced what he called “a history of discrimination” and “apathy” from DTSC to alleviate their struggle.
Addressing the panel, Gonzalez said he has lost five dogs due to cancer, and now himself has contracted the condition, which has metastasized from his skin to his back and face.
Four of his neighbors have died of cancer in recent years, yet his property with soil samples measured at 170 ppm has not made the cut for a cleanup. Monsignor John Moretta with the Resurrection Catholic Church in Boyle Heights, confirmed four neighbors have died of cancer.
“People are dying every day here, and nobody is doing anything about it,” said Gonzalez.
“The autopsies revealed they died of cancer,” said Moretta, who attested folks gather at the church every Monday to discuss Exide’s environmental legacy. “Joe is my neighbor. He’s very sick too.”
Gonzalez also requested stronger sanitary measures at work sites to ensure cleaning crews minimize the spread of contaminants from work clothes at the end of their shifts.
At a February hearing, DTSC Deputy Director Todd Sax pledged to phase in measures to ensure crews would dress up with work clothing at cleaning sites, and undress before heading home.
Mark! Lopez, an organizer and special projects coordinator with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, said the mess left behind by Exide should be treated as a health crisis.
Lopez told EPA Region 9 Assistant Director Edwin “Chip” Poalinelli, that residents are still skeptical of the DTSC intentions, following lax enforcement of environmental laws after the plant ran with temporary permits for decades.
Further fouling trust, the presiding federal judge in the 2020 Exide bankruptcy case cleared company executives from paying tens of millions to fully clean up the former plant, plus lead-laden soil on nearby houses.
“Joe [Gonzalez] has come to all meetings, and poses good questions. We are not seeing you [the EPA] as a separate district of the DTSC. We see you as a component of it all,” said Lopez, also a member of the Exide Technologies Advisory Group team.
Poalinelli said a potential Superfund designation this fall would cover cleanups of underground water sources below the plant, and would trigger a 60-day public comment period for community input once the site is recorded in the NPL.
“The site meets the qualifications for the NPL,” said Poalinelli. “We will evaluate all the comments presented to us.”
He said once the EPA “conducts an extensive investigation” to determine the size and scope of pollutants affecting the area, the agency will prepare a list of potential remedies, and build a website solely for public comments.
On concerns that local trained workers may lose their jobs if the site qualifies for Superfund resources, Poalinelli said the EPA would follow federal hiring processes, and specialists would have to weigh in on the matter.
Surlene Grant, DTSC’s Equity Deputy Director, said the department has taken steps to change the tone and transparency of the entire cleanup process, to rectify historic wrongs and give folks leverage in decision-making.
“We do these presentations because we care about these communities,” said Grant. “It may not be moving at first, but it is moving forward.”
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