California Sues Companies to Recover Costs for Lead Pollution Cleanup

Article

A lawsuit has been filed against multiple companies connected to a now-closed battery recycling plant years after California regulators pledged to recover cleanup costs from those responsible for spreading lead pollution to thousands of homes in southeast Los Angeles County.

The state Department of Toxic Substances Control claims in the lawsuit filed Monday that three previous operating companies and seven companies that sent hazardous waste or arranged for its treatment or disposal are liable for cleaning up the pollution under the federal law, The Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

The lawsuit is seeking to recover more than $136 million the department has spent on the cleanup since 2015, including the future cost of cleaning at the Vernon site and surrounding communities.

The lawsuit names NL Industries, JX Nippon Mining & Metals and Gould Electronics as previous owners and Kinsbursky Bros., Trojan Battery Co., Ramcar Batteries, Clarios, Quemetco, International Metals Ekco and Blount as companies that transported hazardous waste to the plant, arranged for it to be shipped there, or both.

The lawsuit noticeably excludes Exide Technologies, which under a recently approved bankruptcy plan was relieved from the hazardous site after sticking most of the cleanup bill on state taxpayers. The company operated the plant from 2000 until its closure in 2015 and was responsible for cleaning up the site.

Some community groups and environmentalists in the largely Latino neighborhoods surrounding the plant were angered by how the cleanup was handled and asked what the lawsuit would change.

“Anything that can help recover money and put it toward the cleanup is needed, but it feels like too little too late because the real responsible parties are already off the hook,” said Idalmis Vaquero, a member of Communities for a Better Environment who lives in a Boyle Heights apartment complex that has not yet had its soil cleaned.

Legal experts and environmental groups have argued that even if the lawsuit succeeds, it could take years for any money to be recouped and used to clean contaminated homes, schools and parks. The site is blamed for spreading lead dust more than a mile away.

Lead is a powerful neurotoxin that can cause learning deficiencies and other permanent developmental and behavioral problems in children with no safe level of exposure.

Kinsbursky Bros. Vice President Daniel Kinsbursky said that “KBI, like thousands of other companies, shipped recyclable materials to Exide’s Vernon site” and was never involved in the plant’s operations.

Quemetco attorney Patrick Dennis said the company “takes its environmental responsibilities seriously and looks forward to defending itself once the complaint is served.”

Clarios spokeswoman Kari Pfisterer said the company does not provide comment on pending litigation.

Calls and messages requesting comment from the other companies were not returned.

A state audit released in October estimated that the bill for the cleanup, already more than $250 million, could reach $650 million. It also found the cleanup was running behind schedule and over budget due to poor management by the Department of Toxic Substances Control.

Department Director Meredith Williams said this week that her department had been pushing Exide to take responsibility for the cleanup through a separate, parallel process while it built its case against other responsible parties. She said the timing of the lawsuit was unrelated to the company’s bankruptcy and liquidation.

California Attorney Gen. Xavier Becerra’s office did not respond to questions about whether it investigated Exide criminally or pursued charges against the company. The L.A. County district attorney’s office spent years on a criminal investigation but did not file charges.