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NATURAL RESOURCE DEFENSE COUNCIL REPORT: How safe is your drinking water? NRDC documents widespread lead violations in its “What’s in Your Water? – Flint and Beyond” report

NRDC Drinking Water - Flint - Lead Contamination Report

CLICK HERE TO READ REPORT NATURAL RESOURCE DEFENSE COUNCIL How Safe is Your Drinking Water? NRDC Report Documents Widespread Lead Violations 18 Million+ Americans Get Water from Systems with Lead Violations; May be a Drop in the Bucket Due to Rigged Testing and Lax Enforcement June 28, 2016 WASHINGTON —More than 18 million Americans got […]

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QUEMETCO/RSR CORP BREAKING NEWS: Quemetco lead smelter ordered to repair hole, gaps in hazardous waste storage

Quemetco hazardous waste storage violations

“…The latest order comes after the DTSC issued seven “non-minor violations” this month against the lead-acid battery recycler, mostly centering on hazardous waste storage. The order is part of the department “elevating its enforcement actions against Quemetco,” according to a statement released Tuesday by the agency, a branch of the California Environmental Protection Agency… …State […]

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QUEMETCO/RSR CORP UPDATE: Soil testing near Quemetco lead smelter shows hazardous levels of lead nearby

Quemetco Lead Contamination

SAN GRABRIEL VALLEY TRIBUNE Soil testing near City of Industry battery recycling plant shows hazardous levels nearby Allen Waldman, a geologist for WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, contracted by the Department of Toxic Substance Control, collects soil to test for signs of arsenic and lead in the front yard of a home near the battery recycling Quemetco […]

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EXIDE VERNON EDITORIAL – LOS ANGELES TIMES: It’s unacceptable to delay Exide cleanup when public health is at stake

Exide Kills - Baby

WHY? WHY? WHY? MAKE THE ALL RESPONSIBLE OFFICIALS FROM MUNICIPAL TO FEDERAL LEVEL ANSWER THIS QUESTION – HONESTLY! NOW!!  #NOMORETIME #NOMOREEXCUSES #NOMORELIES Earlier this month, state officials revealed that they had found nearly 250 spots on 203 properties near the former Exide battery recycling plant where levels of brain-damaging lead were more than 10 times higher than California’s health standard […]

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EXIDE VERNON UPDATE: — WHY??? — Toxic, brain-damaging lead levels 100 times higher than health limits found in soil of homes near Exide lead smelter; DTSC, state regulators refuse to release majority of contamination readings for most of affected properties

why_pencil

Homes, schools and at least one day-care center near a shuttered Vernon battery recycler are contaminated with higher levels of brain-damaging lead than previously disclosed, with soil samples at one property as much as 100 times above California’s health standard, state and county records show. Yet it remains unclear where and at what concentrations the poisonous […]

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EXIDE VERNON UPDATE: DTSC reports shows high lead levels at five elementary schools near Exide

Exide contaminated schools

89.3 KPCC – SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RADIO High lead levels found at 5 schools near Exide BY Elizabeth Aguilera July 08 2016 CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO AUDIO FROM THIS STORY – 4:48 Three-year-old Alejandro Monterroso is in hot pursuit of his 7-year-old sister Emily on a  dusty side yard at Lorena Street Elementary School in […]

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EXIDE VERNON: IMPORTANT NOTICE – Last chance for public input on scope of DTSC Environmental Impact Report connected with massive cleanup of toxic Exide lead smelter site and surrounding neighborhoods is JULY 11, 6-8 p.m. PST, at the Resurrection Church

meetingnotice

LAST CHANCE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON SCOPE OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT BEING PREPARED FOR MASSIVE CLEANUP OF TOXIC EXIDE LEAD SMELTER SITE IS JULY 11, FROM 6 P.M. TO 8 P.M. AT RESURRECTION CHURCH EGPNEWS.COM Public Input Being Sought for Exide EIR By EGP Staff Report The public’s final chance to weigh in on the […]

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EXIDE VERNON BREAKING NEWS: DTSC claims its environmental review will delay expanded cleanup of lead from homes near Exide lead smelter for about a year

Delayed

Before you read the story below, read what is supposed to be the purpose and mission of the California Department of Toxic Substances, which can be found in the graphic below and on its website. (And why are there so many vacancies in the leadership team at the agency?) Then, ask yourself, what is wrong between this declaration of […]

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REUTERS INVESTIGATES – Unsafe at Any Level: Millions of American children missing early lead tests

Blood lead testing children

This article makes no mention of children living near lead smelters, such as those operated by Exide and RSR Corp. California and Texas, among other states, do not require blood lead level testing of children at the age of one and two years old (see chart below). REUTERS INVESTIGATES: Unsafe at Any Level Millions of […]

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EXIDE FRISCO – Frisco City Council to hold public hearing at 2 p.m. June 2 regarding TCEQ request to EPA to remove Nonattainment Area for Lead designation from 1.28 mile area surrounding Exide lead smelter; Public comments accepted by TCEQ through June 3

Exide Frisco

With April 27, 2016, vote, the request to the EPA and proposed maintenance plan move forward. EPA officials will have the final say on removing the nonattainment area. Public comments will be accepted by the state through June 3. A public hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. June 2 in the council chambers at Frisco […]

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EXIDE VERNON BREAKING NEWS: Scant accountability for decades among public officials (from municipal, regional, state to federal level) for Exide lead contamination of at least 10,000 homes near smelter

Exide

LOS ANGELES TIMES For public officials, accountability for Exide lead contamination has been scant California regulators allowed the Exide Technologies battery recycling plant in Vernon to operate for decades without a full permit. (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times) BY Tony Barboza California officials have talked tough about the contamination of up to 10,000 homes with […]

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EXIDE VERNON UPDATE: Los Angeles area residents affected by contamination from Exide lead smelter say slow cleanup adds insult to injury; Residents wary of DTSC which they believe dropped the ball on regulating Exide with existing laws to protect residents from decades of lead, arsenic and benzine contamination

Exide Slow Cleanup

FREE SPEECH RADIO NETWORK LA residents affected by pollution from shuttered battery plant say slow cleanup adds insult to injury MAY 24, 2016 Protesters call Exide Technologies serial polluters. (Photo credit: Larry Buhl)  CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO AUDIO Attorneys with the NAACP filed a federal class action lawsuit last week on behalf of residents […]

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EXIDE VERNON UPDATE: U.S. Bankruptcy judge approves agreement to allow Exide and South Coast Air Quality Management District to enter into mediation over $80 million lawsuit; In lawsuit, SQAQMD claims Exide failed to comply with rules for lead and arsenic emissions from its Vernon lead smelter

Exide lawsuits

REUTERS Exide and California regulator head into mediation over lawsuit  Fri May 20, 2016 7:06am EDT BY JIM CHRISTIE A bankruptcy judge has approved an agreement between Exide Technologies and a California pollution regulator to enter into mediation to try to resolve the regulator’s $80 million lawsuit against the maker of lead-acid batteries. The South Coast […]

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QUEMETCO / CITY OF INDUSTRY MEDIA ROUNDUP – South Coast Air Quality Management District orders RSR Corp.-owned Quemetco lead smelter officials to notify 12,000 residents near its City of Industry facility (residents in Avocado Heights, City of Industry, La Puente and Hacienda Heights) about increased risk of cancer because of smelter’s arsenic emissions; SQAQMD report shows smelter poses cancer burden of 0.66 excess cancer cases, and it must reduce burden to 0.5 or less

RSR Quemetco Lead Smelter City of Industry

The Quemetco lead smelter is owned by RSR Corporation, which is a Dallas, TX-based, privately held secondary lead smelting company that operates lead acid battery recycling facilities in California, Indiana, and New York . “…Based on its 2014 emissions, Quemetco’s HRA showed that it posed a cancer burden of 0.66 excess cancer cases primarily due to […]

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EXIDE FAIRFIELD BREAKING NEWS: PCBs found in sediment removed from Mill River during remediation work to remove lead contaminants from Exide lead smelter

Exide Fairfield cleanup

MINUTEMAN NEWS CENTER Stumbling block at Exide site as PCBs found Published: Tuesday, May 17, 2016  By Kendra Wingate Levels of Polychlorinated Biphenyl were found last week in sediment which was removed from the bottom of the Mill River during remediation work at the Exide Battery plant to remove lead contaminants. PCBs were detected which […]

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EXIDE VERNON: Residents work to expand testing area from Exide smelter’s lead contamination to 4.5 miles from DTSC’s 1.7 mile cleanup zone

Exide Testing Area

EGPNEWS.COM Demands to Expand Exide Test Area Grow By Nancy Martinez, EGP Staff Writer At the first public hearing since the governor signed legislation to appropriate $176.6 million for the testing and cleanup of residential properties surrounding the now shuttered Exide battery recycling plant in Vernon, residents were not jumping for joy or thanking state […]

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EXIDE VERNON: DTSC plans rollout of jobs and development training program that could train impacted residents to test for environmental damages like those they’ve encountered from Exide lead smelter

Exide Vernon cleanup training

EGPNEWS.COM Exide: From Brownfield to Classroom By Nancy Martinez, EGP Staff Writer East and southeast Los Angeles County area residents could soon be trained to test for environmental damages like those in their own backyard. The Department of Toxic Substances Control plans in coming months to roll out a job and development training program open […]

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John Oliver questions why Sesame Street characters are more concerned about real dangers of lead than lawmakers and regulatory agencies

John Oliver

On his “Last Week Tonight” show, comedian and social commentator John Oliver questions why — given that so much has been know for so long about the toxicity of lead — Sesame Street characters are more concerned about lead exposure and contamination than most lawmakers and regulatory agencies. John, we could have told you that Exide […]

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EXIDE VERNON: What’s next for Exide lead contamination cleanup after California Senate approves $177 million in funding; Perhaps more than an additional $200 million needed to complete largest environmental cleanup in California history

Exide cleanup

Once Brown signs the legislation, the money will immediately become available. It will be used to finish testing soil for lead at up to 10,000 properties in a 1.7 mile radius around the facility and to clean up around 2,500 of the most contaminated properties over a three-year period. But it’s unclear exactly when the work […]

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EXIDE BREAKING NEWS: California State Assembly approves $176.6 million in funds for environmental testing and cleanup of Exide’s lead/arsenic contamination; Exide committed to pay only $50 million. To date, Exide has paid only $9 million and doesn’t have to pay another $5 million until 2020

California State Assembly

DO THE MATH: EXIDE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LARGEST ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP IN CALIFORNIA HISTORY.  THE  CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY APPROVES PAYING ALMOST $180 MILLION FOR THAT CLEANUP.  YET, EXIDE IS COMMITTED TO PAY ONLY $50 MILLION FOR THE CLEANUP  OF THE LEAD, ARSENIC CONTAMINATION IT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR, WITH ONLY $26 MILLION EARMARKED FOR RESIDENTIAL CLEANUP. AND, TO DATE, IT HAS PAID […]

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