Judge Signals He May Seal Photos Of Troubled Rendering Company From Public View

An L.A. Superior Court judge said Friday that he would tentatively grant Baker Commodities, Inc.’s request to seal court records that include about 80 photos that show inside its Vernon facility. The photos were taken by an air quality inspector in 2022.

Baker is a rendering company located about five miles southeast of Downtown L.A. The company recycles animal parts and sometimes entire carcasses.

The photos in question appeared in videos posted online by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD). Those videos show rib cages among a heap of animal parts, as well as raw animal material leaking out of the rendering equipment.

Baker has been in a legal fight with AQMD since last year, and operating in a limited capacity, following a modified shut down order put in place by AQMD’s hearing board in June.

Baker Commodities, Inc. in Vernon.

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Samanta Helou Hernandez

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LAist

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Baker’s attorneys are seeking to keep the inspector’s photos from public view, saying the images contain trade secrets and that they were obtained without permission. AQMD disputes this, maintaining that the inspector got permission from Baker employees. Attorneys for Baker are also arguing that the facility should be allowed to fully reopen.

In court documents, the inspector who took the photos described Baker’s Vernon facility as smelling “intensely of rotting animals.”

Baker has declined multiple interview requests from LAist in the past few weeks and did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

In an email, AQMD spokesperson Nahal Mogharabi said the agency had nothing to add by deadline.

A final decision from L.A. County Superior Court judge Mitchell L. Beckloff is expected in the coming weeks — the next hearing is set for Oct. 27. If the judge rules in Baker’s favor, the photos in the court record will be sealed from the public.

Baker was the focus of a recent LAist investigation that found widespread community complaints about odors. LAist first published some of the photos that show inside the company’s facility last week.

Baker is among four rendering companies and at least 40 meat processors that LAist identified in or very near the city of Vernon. Rendering companies play an important role in reducing food waste, but they also can produce odorous chemicals that have the potential to cause increased cancer risk and other health issues, according to public health researchers interviewed by LAist.