The deadline residents were told would clear the rotting food from the burned Lineage warehouse in Boyle Heights has arrived, but many Eastside residents still don’t know when the cleanup will actually be finished.
At a virtual community meeting hosted by LA Mayor Karen Bass Thursday evening at the Lou Costello Recreation Center, about 40 people showed up looking for answers.
Residents wanted to know how much longer they’d be left to deal with the overwhelming foul smell, pests and health concerns in their neighborhood, and what elected officials planned to do to help them. Many left frustrated by unanswered questions and Bass’ decision to participate virtually rather than in person.
Bass said Lineage would not meet the 45-day deadline she set for the company to remove the rotting food. Now, Lineage disputes that deadline, saying they actually have one more week to complete the work.
For those living closest to the warehouse, the differing timelines matter less than what they say is a lack of urgency to provide them with actual relief.
Residents criticize meetings’ online format
When Joaquin Angeles received an invitation from Bass’ office this week to attend the meeting at Lou Costello Rec Center, he expected to see the mayor in person. Instead, he watched her remarks through a projector screen.
“To me, this is disrespectful because she should be here to provide us with solutions, yet they are just misleading us by saying they will help,” Angeles said. “I wanted to ask Karen Bass, ‘Exactly what are you going to do to help us?’”
One month ago, Angeles spoke up at a heated town hall where residents demanded similar answers from elected leaders and Lineage officials. He lives half a block away from the warehouse and said that for two months, he and his family have dealt with the smell, the rats, the flies, skin rashes and bloody noses.
“We don’t have any concrete [answers] to this day,” Angeles said after the meeting.
Another resident, who is undocumented, said she attended the meeting in person despite the fear she has felt due to ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids because she wanted to speak to city officials face-to-face.
“If I had known that the meeting would be virtual, believe me, I would have stayed home,” she said.
Bass’ office did not immediately respond to questions about why the meeting was held virtually but said the in-person option was intended for those unable to attend online.
In addition to remarks by Bass and LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis, city and county agencies also shared the ongoing resources available for affected residents, including mobile health clinics, utility bill assistance for some households and relief funds for business owners.
At one point, the stream inside the recreation center cut out because, according to a staff member, the computer streaming the Zoom webinar lost battery. It was back up within two minutes but the interruption prompted one attendee to speak up.
“And just like that, that’s an example of how they are not prepared,” they said.
In the Zoom chat, residents shared their personal experience dealing with the aftermath of the fire and asked questions about why resources hadn’t been more widely distributed and what types of fines Lineage could be facing.
City and Lineage clash over deadlines
In response to Lineage missing the city’s 45-day deadline, Bass said she was preparing to call on city lawyers to pursue legal action.
“Now, because Lineage has not met the deadline, I’m calling on city lawyers to pursue civil litigation and all legal options for abatement, cost recovery, and penalties,” Bass said. “And if needed, to put a lien on the property to make sure that the city is paid back in full the taxpayer’s dollars that were spent to fight this fire but also to meet the needs of the residents.”
Thursday evening, Lineage disputed the mayor’s deadline.
“The 45-day cleanup clock began on July 7 … We are at day 37,” Lineage said in an emailed statement to Boyle Heights Beat.
As of Friday, the company said 93% of the bulk food waste from the site had been removed and that it was targeting to complete the bulk food removal by Aug. 20, “followed by spot cleaning, disinfecting and detailing work by August 27.”
Lineage’s timeline is consistent with the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s requirements, which orders the company to maintain 10% or 8.8 million pounds of food removed each week.
“The timeline is dictated by the reality on the ground, not by our willingness or our resources – and we are expected to spend $100M on our cleanup effort,” Lineage said.
“I want them to get rid of this already,” said Maria Guzman, who brought her energy bill to the meeting, hoping to show city staff how much it’s gone up in the past two months. “They need to take care of it and do it as soon as possible … Let’s see if they actually follow through on what they say.”
