Board of Supervisors OK's toxic waste teams

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Los Angeles has the reputation of being polluted. But many people aren’t as aware of the pollution being caused by factories in lower-income areas of the city.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina is leading theinitiative to end pollution of these communities by creating a “toxic threat strike team” that would prosecute offending businesses. The motion was brought to the Board of Supervisors this morning and lawmakers heard from factory reps and community members.  

Prior to now, the state of California had controlled the regulation of factory pollution. Supervisor Molina has been trying to push this issue into the forefront of Los Angeles's consciousness for years, but has consistently found problems, especially with battery disposal company Exide in Vernon. 

"We have been trying in every which way to try and get state agencies to operate and function and to at least go after them in some fashion," Molina said. "Exide has a temporary permit, and has for 5 generations. Frankly, they aren’t moving forward to clean up. So now we’ve created this strike team that is gonna go after them."  

The strike teams will be made up of public health officials, lawyers, and other county employees.  John Hogarth, manager of the Exide plant in Vernon, is convinced that his company is doing all it needs to lower its pollution output. 

"The company will have spent $20 million since 2010," he said. "Most of that is to reduce emissions and improve our environmental footprint. We have seen about a 95% reduction in arsenic since April 2013, and that's a report that  came from AQMD so that's their quotation." 

Molina and community officials will not stop until companies such as Exide are regulated or removed entirely. 

"At the end of the day, there were arsenic levels found in our parks and 85 residences," said Molina. "When you look at the health threat overall, I don’t know what they can stand behind. I’d like to know why they’ve been operating for 5 generations on a temporary permit. They cant meet the standards."

The motion passed today in the Board of Supervisors meeting, and community members and policy makers alike are eager to see the plan's implementation.