The Clean Air Coalition of North Whittier and Avocado Heights is an all-volunteer community organization working to protect and enhance the environment and quality of life in the San Gabriel Valley in SE LA County. We work closely with county and state agencies on issues like truck traffic, air pollution, and government transparency, among others. Currently, we are working on Quemetco.
Now that the Department of Justice has forced Exide to close its facility in Vernon because of years of criminal violations of safety regulations, only one lead-acid battery recycling plant remains west of the Rocky Mountains: Quemetco, in the City of Industry. This facility has been in our community since 1959, now entirely surrounded by homes and schools—Hacienda Heights, Avocado Heights and La Puente together comprise about 140 000 mostly Latino residents—and some Hacienda Heights residents live as close as 400 feet from Quemetco. This facility is regulated by the same state agencies that failed to protect the health of the communities next to Exide, with the Department of Toxics Substances Control of great concern to us.
The Clean Air Coalition working with the Department of Toxic Substances Control held the first ever Town Hall meeting on July 7, 2015 to inform the public of upcoming sampling DTSC will conduct of soil and water in a 1-mile radius around the Quemetco lead-acid battery recycling facility in the City of Industry. This facility has been in operation since 1959 but tests for the presence of toxins like lead and arsenic in the neighboring communities have never been done on the scale currently proposed and it is imperative that the public be informed in order to expedite the testing and clean up of contaminated sites. The notorious case of Exide, the ongoing clean up around that facility, and Quemetco’s pending application to increase battery processing by 25%--all of this made a Town Hall meeting urgent.
Click on “Quemetco Campaign” to find updates and documents regarding the history and current status of CAC’s work to clean up and stop toxic emissions from this facility.
Now that the Department of Justice has forced Exide to close its facility in Vernon because of years of criminal violations of safety regulations, only one lead-acid battery recycling plant remains west of the Rocky Mountains: Quemetco, in the City of Industry. This facility has been in our community since 1959, now entirely surrounded by homes and schools—Hacienda Heights, Avocado Heights and La Puente together comprise about 140 000 mostly Latino residents—and some Hacienda Heights residents live as close as 400 feet from Quemetco. This facility is regulated by the same state agencies that failed to protect the health of the communities next to Exide, with the Department of Toxics Substances Control of great concern to us.
The Clean Air Coalition working with the Department of Toxic Substances Control held the first ever Town Hall meeting on July 7, 2015 to inform the public of upcoming sampling DTSC will conduct of soil and water in a 1-mile radius around the Quemetco lead-acid battery recycling facility in the City of Industry. This facility has been in operation since 1959 but tests for the presence of toxins like lead and arsenic in the neighboring communities have never been done on the scale currently proposed and it is imperative that the public be informed in order to expedite the testing and clean up of contaminated sites. The notorious case of Exide, the ongoing clean up around that facility, and Quemetco’s pending application to increase battery processing by 25%--all of this made a Town Hall meeting urgent.
Click on “Quemetco Campaign” to find updates and documents regarding the history and current status of CAC’s work to clean up and stop toxic emissions from this facility.