Legislation In Response To Lineage Fire Awaits Governor Action

BOYLE HEIGHTS, CA — Two state lawmakers and local elected officials who represent Boyle Heights urged Gov. Gavin Newsom Wednesday to sign bills aimed at supporting residents impacted by the July 17 Lineage Logistics warehouse fire, and prevent a similar disaster from occurring elsewhere across California.

Mayor Karen Bass, Assemblyman Mark González, D-Los Angeles, and Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles, joined members of Proyecto Pastoral at Dolores Mission in Boyle Heights to highlight AB 817 and SB 716, which are awaiting Newsom's signature.

In the aftermath of the eight-day fire that burned at the cold storage warehouse, González and Durazo introduced legislation with the goal of preventing permits from being issued to other facilities like Lineage in Boyle Heights unless they maintain a contingency fund of up to $20 million to be used in times of emergencies. The legislation would also exempt from taxes all future settlements for residents affected by the Lineage fire, and increase fines up to $50,000 per health and safety violation during a state or federal disaster declaration.

"We are here today because the people of Boyle Heights deserve action. They deserve accountability, and of course, first and foremost, they deserve protection," Bass said.

The mayor said companies like Lineage should be held accountable, and they should set aside money in case of an emergency.

"Even as residents dealt with overwhelming odors, pests, and the daily indignity of living beside millions of pounds of rotting food, local government was restricted in the fines that we could place upon Lineage," Bass said. "We want this to change."

González said Boyle Heights and East LA were severely impacted for the last 80 days since the fire, as residents and businesses dealt with smoke, ash, rats and flies, and the smell of rotting food.

"`The legislature has acted. AB 817 has made it through the committee process. It has passed both houses of the California legislature, and now the bill is sitting on the governor's desk. So today, my message, along with everyone here, behind us, is clear: Governor, we need you to sign AB 817," González said.

González noted the requirement regarding the contingency fund would take effect in 2028.

"That requirement will apply statewide because we never want another community to spend a summer with rants in their playgrounds where the children should be playing," González said. "We need to turn the lessons of Boyle Heights into action that protects communities across California."

According to the assemblyman, his bill has received pushback from some members of the business community, who worried about impacts to their warehouse operations. González insisted the bill is not about shutting down businesses, but rather ensuring that residents aren't left paying the price if something goes wrong.

In addition to his bill, the assemblyman added he and Durazo were able to make significant headway in acquiring millions of dollars in state funding for Boyle Heights and East L.A. They are working alongside their colleagues in the state legislature to bring $1 million for mobile health clinics, $2 million for LA County Public Health for Lineage fire cleanup and remediation, and $4.5 million to the YMCA of Los Angeles for emergency food and resource assistance, they said.

The funding is expected to be part of an appropriation bill that is likely to be signed at the end of September, according to state officials. Though it will be sometime before the money gets to organizations and disbursed to impacted residents.

Durazo said her bill seeks to establish a $1,000 fine for a first environmental violation notice, followed by a $2,000 fine, and a $5,000 fine for each violation after than, and up to a $50,000 fine per violation when tied to a declared disaster. She emphasized the fine structure has not been updated in 1983 — that's about 43 years.

Durazo's SB 716 would apply solely to Los Angeles County until July 1, 2028, when it would then expand to significantly burdened environmental justice communities statewide.

The news conference came four days after Lineage Logistics announced it had completed the removal and cleanup of more than 89 million pounds of food waste at its burned-out cold storage warehouse.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District confirmed Saturday that Lineage had cleared away all of the food and debris, and power-washed and disinfected the interior of the 491,000-square-foot site in time to meet Saturday's deadline, nearly three months after a fire raged at the warehouse for days.

A statement from Lineage said the cleanup was "an important milestone in the most ambitious and comprehensive remediation effort within the cold- storage industry following the fire that broke out on the roof of the facility."

Lineage President and CEO Greg Lehmkuhl expanded on that statement, saying, "No cleanup of this scale and speed has ever been executed before, and none of it would have been possible without the extraordinary courage and dedication of first responders, remediation crews and Lineage team members who worked around the clock to ensure the fastest possible comprehensive response.

"Core to who we are as a company is a deep commitment to show up for the communities where we live and work, as well as for the businesses and people who depend on us to store the food that ends up on dinner tables throughout our communities and around the world," he said. "We approached the challenge of this cleanup with that same mindset and that same commitment to doing right by our neighbors."

The remediation and clean-up cost Lineage $100 million and 210,000 worker hours, the company stated, adding that it used misting systems around the building perimeter, temporary enclosure barriers to contain debris and reduce odors, and conducted continuous air-quality monitoring while providing regular updates to the community through its website, email alerts, door-to- door outreach and ongoing community meeting participation.

Lineage and air quality regulators have agreed that work will continue to remedy the site and ensure the safety of residents.

"Lineage must continue to follow all measures required by the Order for Abatement, which includes the use of odor-neutralizing agents during certain activities and collection of all wastewater generated by cleanup activities to be placed in a sealed tank and vented to air pollution-control equipment," the AQMD stated.

"Lineage is also required to notify the community of any future actions with potential to cause odors. The order also requires Lineage to continue fenceline and community air-monitoring," according to the statement.

The AQMD noted that its inspectors will continue daily visits to the site to ensure Lineage complies with the abatement order until the odor- mitigation efforts are no longer required.

The fire erupted June 17 on the roof of the cold storage facility at 1400 S. Los Palos St. and burned for days. More than 85 million pounds of food were stored inside, and food that began rotting following the blaze caused persistent foul odors in surrounding neighborhoods and attracted rats.

Lineage completed removal of the bulk food waste by Aug. 29, nearly two and a half months after the fire. The company had missed previous deadlines for removing the waste.

In late August, the Los Angeles City Council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee recommended that no permits to rebuild or reconstruct the warehouse should be issued.

By Jose Herrera, City News Service