EXIDE VERNON UPDATE: DTSC director apologizes to Eastside LA residents for agency failing to protect them from years of Exide’s toxic arsenic and lead emissions and deposition in soil and groundwater contamination
EGPNEWS.COM
DTSC Director Apologizes to Eastside Residents
Process to close and clean up Exide facility will begin May 15.
By Nancy Martinez, EGP Staff Writer
[Updated:Â April 16, 12p.m.]
“I’m sorry.†Two words Eastside residents never thought they would hear from the state agency charged with regulating a controversial Vernon-based acid-lead battery recycler found to have repeatedly violated toxic chemical air emissions standards.
For the first time since taking the helm of the Department of Toxic Substances Control, Director Barbara Lee personally addressed a public meeting discussing the now-closed Exide Technologies plant. DTSC has been heavily criticized for “failing†to protect the public from arsenic and lead emissions, chemicals known to cause cancer and neurological damage.
“I know many feel the department has failed you, I want to start of by saying I’m very sorry,†Lee told hundreds of residents and environmental activists during a meeting April 9 at Resurrection Church in Boyle Heights to discuss Exide’s closure plan.
The tone at last week’s meeting was quieter and less combative then past meetings, but skepticism and mistrust still hung heavy in the air.
“We want to know what happened …we want to know who is responsible,†demanded Mark Lopez, director of East Yard Communities for Environmental Justices.
Lopez asked Lee if she would consider opening a criminal investigation into DTSC’s handling of the Vernon plant, which it allowed to operate on an interim permit for decades despite being found to have exposed eastside residents to cancer-causing toxins.
Lee did not at first directly respond to the request, instead denying any criminal activity on the part of the department, but Lopez pressed on.
“We want accountability. What happened before was not your fault, but moving forward is all your responsibility,†said Lopez, drawing loud applause from the approximately 200 people at the meeting.
“Would you be willing to let me think about it?†Lee asked.
Lopez agreed, explaining he didn’t expect the DTSC director to make a decision right then and there. “I just want to make sure you respond on the record in front of all of us,†he said.
Lee was appointed to head DTSC about four months ago and was not part of the protracted battle to shutter the troubled plant, but said she understands why residents mistrust the agency.
“It’s important we do not let this happen again,†she said, promising to do things differently moving forward.
For more than a decade, area residents complained to DTSC and the South Coast Air Quality Management District about Exide, but it took an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office to permanently close down the facility.
Federal authorities announced last month that they had struck a deal to close the plant in exchange for Exide and its executives avoiding criminal prosecution for their illegal handling of hazardous waste. The deal requires Exide to pay the entire cost to clean its plant and homes in the surrounding community found to have been contaminated. DTSC will oversee the closure and clean up.
“We won folks,†Monsignor John Moretta happily told the crowd.
However, not everyone is as convinced or ready to forgive.
“I don’t want to hear I’m sorry because nobody is more sorry than me,†said a tearful Terry Cano before she shared that her father had died from cancer she believes was caused by Exide’s emissions.
“You’re telling me this is the best you can do,†she said, angry that there will be no criminal prosecutions.
The meeting drew residents from Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, Maywood, Commerce and Huntington Park, the area most heavily impacted by Exide generated pollution. Several people said the deal did not do enough to compensate the people harmed by the Vernon plant.
Teresa Marquez told Lee she believes the director wants to move the agency forward, but questioned whether any DTSC employee had been fired over the agency’s handling of the facility.
Lee said DTSC is being overhauled and new deputy directors have been brought in to replace staff no longer at the agency.
That prompted Lopez to again push for a criminal investigation.
“We want to know where they are now and if they are working for another similar agency making those same [bad] decisions,†he said. There is no victory until a closer look is taken at the systemic problems that allowed a company like Exide to keep polluting the community for so long, without that, real change is not possible, Lopez said.
A Huntington Park resident asked Lee to consider expanding the area being tested for lead and arsenic to include more nearby communities. Currently, testing is focused on East L.A., Boyle Heights and Maywood, which Lee explained was determined by AQMD modeling that identified the areas most likely to be contaminated.
“Predictions also come in the form of weather forecasts and they’re not always right,†the resident responded.
Moving forward, Exide has to submit a closure/post closure plan to DTSC by May 15. The agency will review the plans for compliance then present the plan to the public for comment sometime in the fall. Removal of the buildings and structures at the site is expected to start in spring 2016 and take 19-24 months to complete.
“For too many years we did not listen well to you,†Lee told the audience, acknowledging that many residents are not yet ready to trust the agencies responsible for regulating Exide.
“I don’t expect by standing here I will change that, I have to earn your trust,†she said. “I can’t promise you I will always get it right, but I will always give it my best. I hope you will be ready to take one step forward with us,†she said.
“It’s refreshing to hear a different tone,†remarked Maywood Councilman Oscar Magaña.
But for Boyle Heights resident Joe Gonzalez, the fight is far from over.
“We haven’t won,†he said, “we just threw the first punch that will change the momentum.â€
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