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Vol. 81/No. 38 October 16, 2017
Hundreds protest toxic waste in Los Angeles
Militant/Deborah Liatos
COMMERCE, Calif. — Three hundred people marched to the office of the
California Department of Toxic Substances Control here Sept. 18,
demanding a thoroughgoing cleanup of contamination from the Exide
Technologies battery recycling plant. The plant operated in Vernon from
1922 to 2015, spewing arsenic, lead and other toxic waste on
working-class communities southeast of Los Angeles.
Protesters say the current cleanup is inadequate. It would remove
contaminated soil from only 2,500 of the 10,000 homes near the plant. It
does not cover inside of homes.
“We cannot be victims of our own state agencies. On my block, there are
19 homes. Twelve have somebody with cancer,” Joe Gonzalez, above in
wheelchair, with sign reading, “Gov. Brown Where Are You,” told the
rally. Gonzalez, a lifelong resident of the area, has been diagnosed
with terminal cancer.
Exide took over the lead-acid battery smelter in 2000, running it 24
hours a day. Area residents campaigned to shut it down. As evidence of
the pollution mounted, company officials signed a deal with the U.S.
Attorney’s Office to pay $59 million to demolish the plant and clean it
up, and the government agreed not to prosecute them. Opponents of the
department’s cleanup plan have formed the Lead-Free Communities
Coalition to continue the fight.
— BILL ARTH
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