A slate of LA City Council plans could bring more environmental justice power to Boyle Heights

L.A. City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado introduced seven motions Tuesday, all geared toward providing immediate and long-term relief for community members who’ve been hurt by the aftermath of the Lineage warehouse fire in Boyle Heights.

According to Jurado, the legislative package is centered around three priorities:

• “Immediate relief and cleanup”
• "Accountability, transparency and site safeguards”
• “Long-term oversight and community power”

Jurado is calling for a Mitigation Response Fund of up to $10 million to provide aid for affected residents and small businesses that have lost revenue as the neighborhood continues dealing with foul odors, flies, rats and other vermin. Jurado also wants to see higher penalties for corporate negligence, and create a commission to advise L.A.’s city leadership on environmental justice policy.

After the fire in mid-June, tons of food at the cold storage warehouse were left to rot. Now, more than a month later, community members are still dealing with odors and pests, which have disrupted local businesses, community spaces and everyday quality of life.

Local activists and community members say the Lineage fire aftermath is part of a long legacy of environmental injustice in Boyle Heights. In recent decades, residents have also dealt with pungent smells from rendering plants in the neighboring city of Vernon. And up until 2015, Vernon was also home to Exide, a battery recycling facility that contaminated the soil of thousands of homes in surrounding communities with lead. The taxpayer-funded cleanup for that issue is still ongoing. Lineage also has several facilities in the city of Vernon.

Jurado’s proposed commission “can serve as an interdisciplinary body to identify and start to protect our communities from historical harms that continue to function as standard practice today,” said mark! Lopez, a community organizer at East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice.

Community members will have a chance to provide public comment on Jurado’s motions before they move to a full council vote.

In a statement, Jurado said recovery "cannot mean removing debris and moving on.” In her view, it must also involve the “aggressive pursuit of every recoverable dollar from responsible parties” and "give communities that have carried Los Angeles' environmental burdens real power over what happens next."

Lineage President and CEO Greg Lehmkuhl previously said in a statement that he cannot estimate how long the cleanup will take. “What we can tell you is this: there are people on site working on this recovery 24/7,” he added.