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Air quality officials wind down Lineage fire air testing, certify company followed cleanup order
The air quality monitoring process for ammonia and other potentially harmful gases began shortly after the fire started this June.
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Andrew Lopez / Boyle Heights Beat
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Topline:
Air quality officials certified Friday that Lineage has completed all requirements to comply with its order of abatement linked to its burned-out Boyle Heights warehouse and said they’ve ended nearly five months of monitoring.
About the odor complaints: Air quality officials first started citing Lineage due to rotten food smells in mid-July, weeks after the fire that took out the cold storage facility. Over 4,200 complaints were registered at the time, prompting South Coast Air Quality Management District to issue a notice of abatement Aug. 6. Since cleanup finished in early September, the agency said it received two complaints whose sources it could not trace back to the warehouse.
What was being monitored: The South Coast AQMD was testing for ammonia, methane, hydrogen sulfide, particulate matter, air toxic metals and other potentially harmful compounds. The final cleanup of Lineage’s warehouse, completed Sept. 5, was weeks after the deadline given by the city and air quality officials. Lineage has maintained that it conducted the cleanup as quickly and safely as it could.
The backstory: The fire, which started June 17 and burned through Lineage’s cold storage facility, left thousands of tons of rotting food to spoil in the summer heat. For months, people in and near Boyle Heights complained of odors, poor air quality and pests. The fire sparked an outcry among nearby residents in Boyle Heights and East L.A., spurring a new accountability law for cold storage facilities signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September.
What’s next: Lineage could still face fines linked to 39 separate notices of violation that the South Coast AQMD issued between July 12 and August 28. According to the agency, those notices are still working through the enforcement process and could result in fines of up to $75,000 per day per violation. Separately, the state has launched a criminal investigation, and several lawsuits related to the fire are also still playing out. Notably, Lineage sued the company that operated the warehouse’s rooftop solar panels, alleging that faulty electrical connections on the solar array started the fire. (The solar panel operator, Altus Power, has denied the claims.)
Can the warehouse be rebuilt: It’s still an open question, but L.A. city leaders are opposed to Lineage operating there again. Mayor Karen Bass and the L.A. City Council have both taken action to withhold rebuilding permits for the warehouse. Mayor-elect and Councilmember Nithya Raman has also opposed Lineage rebuilding.
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