valve regulated lead acid battery How a battery recycler contaminated L.A.-area homes for decades

Residents of southeast Los AngelesA.
This year, the county is pleased that a battery recycling plant that has discharged lead, arsenic and other hazardous pollutants for a long time will be closed.
Just a few months after the announcement. S.
The prosecutor's office, soil testing reveals the chaos left by decades of pollution at the Exide Technologies plant.
California regulators now believe that up to 10,000 households in more than six communities may be contaminated with toxic lead.
They are stepping up a massive clean-up that could take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
Timeline: The History of Exide Technologies> expanded cleanup is the latest in a series of revelations that have sparked anger at work
The Latino community near the factory raised questions about why national regulators failed to act faster.
How long has Exide polluted L? A.
Area nearby?
The plant has been operating in the industrial city of Vernon since 1922 and has been emitting toxic air pollution for decades. Georgia-
The Exide-based company took over in 2000. The 15-
Kerry facilities, known as leading
Acid battery smelters are one of only two plants west of the Rocky Mountains that can melt lead from used car batteries for the production of new batteries.
It operates seven days a week in the industrial city of Vernon, handling about 25,000 batteries a day.
Exide has violated environmental regulations for many years.
Local, state and federal officials have overquoted the plant for excessive cancer emissions.
Lead to arsenic and lead, an effective neurotoxin, and a violation of hazardous waste laws.
What has been done to solve these problems?
Activists in Boyle Heights, businesses and other communities have for years claimed that Exide's actions are illegal and harmful to health.
But it was not until 2008 that air quality regulators took action to reduce emissions after people complained about Ash in nearby soil, streets and businesses.
California's Toxic Substances Control department has known for years that Exide violated environmental law by releasing pollutants to air, soil and water, but failed to stop it.
For 33 years, the state has allowed the plant to operate without full permission, although inspectors have recorded more than 100 violations, including leakage of lead and acid, a pond overflowing with toxic sludge, there are huge cracks on the floor and harmful lead in the soil outside.
In 2013, with anger at air pollution, the toxic sector tried to close the plant.
The company filed a lawsuit in court to overturn a state closure order.
Strict new air quality regulations forced the plant to be idle in 2014.
But the company continues to violate the rules by discharging too much lead.
In January 2015, the National toxic waste inspector found other problems, including holes in the roof and walls of the facility.
What is the final closure of the factory?
As community groups and elected officials requested the plant to be closed, the company revealed on 2014 that the plant was under federal criminal investigation.
The investigation into its operations in Vernon was a powerful hammer to threaten the company with allegations that it might send executives to prison.
In March 2015, the company signed an agreement with the United States. S.
The office of the prosecutor will be permanently closed.
The agreement allows Exide and its employees to avoid prosecution of environmental crimes over the years, including the illegal storage, disposal and transportation of hazardous waste, while agreeing to pay $50 million to dismantle and clean factories and surrounding communities, including $9 million reserved for the removal of lead from home.
What are the affected communities?
State officials believe the lead emissions from esaid have contaminated soil in six states in the southeast of the United States. A.
County community: Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, business, Bell, Huntington Park and Maywood.
In 2013, when state regulators first ordered Exide to test the soil in nearby houses, they restricted the soil to two small areas of about 200 houses in Boyle Heights and Maywood.
After testing further away from the factory, officials revealed in August that lead contamination extended to 1.
Seven miles from the factory, as many as 10,000 families may have been contaminated.
What is the health risk of Exide emissions?
When Exide was in operation, air quality officials determined that its arsenic emissions increased the risk of cancer for more than 100,000 residents.
More worrying is lead, one of the oldest known poisons.
Toxic metals released over the years can lead to learning disabilities, decreased IQ and other developmental problems, even at low levels.
Children at most-risk.
Authorities encourage people living near the Exide to sign up for a free blood test for lead poisoning. The Exide-
The funded screening project is organized by L. A.
County health department.
How big is cleaning? Removing lead-
Contaminated soil from thousands of households will be the most extensive cleanup work in kindin, California, and one of the largest cleanup ever in the United States.
Since August 2014, the Department of Toxic Substances Control has removed lead-
Contaminated soil from more than 185 families.
The department has run out of most of the $9 million in residential cleanup funds in the trust fund and is using the $7 million national fund to expand testing and cleanup.
How long it will take depends on how many houses are found to be contaminated and whether officials can find money to clean up their houses.
The price of each house is about $40,000 and it will take a week to complete.
The slow pace of house testing and cleaning has angered community groups and local officials, who say the national regulator lacks a sense of urgency and forces them to do their own soil sampling and door-to-door --to-
Door Outreach activities.
Since 1996, state inspectors have recorded violations at Vernon's battery recycling plant every year.
During this period, Exide Technologies and its predecessor, GNB, paid a fine of just over $1 million.
Click on the graph to view all inspection reports.
What else happened? L. A.
County head Hilda Solis owns urgegov.
Jerry Brown will appoint an independent expert to oversee the clean-up and set up a committee to investigate what is wrong with Exide and who is responsible.
But the idea was not supported in Sacramento.
Exide has faced numerous lawsuits for its pollution, including several lawsuits from families near the factory, and a lawsuit for air pollution in the areaquality agency.
If the company fails to meet its cleanup obligations at any time in the next 10 years, it may be charged with felony crimes as part of an agreement it has reached with the United StatesS.
Law firm
Timeline: History of Exide technology> Full coverage: read more from The Times on Exide> to learn more about Exide, air quality and the environmentBalvasa @ latimes.