Aug. 14--Soil testing has found as many as 10,000 homes in southeast Los Angeles County are contaminated with lead from a Vernon battery recycling plant, a far higher number than previous estimates, state environmental officials said Friday.
The California Department of Toxic Substances Control previously estimated that only a few hundred homes in Boyle Heights and Maywood would require cleanup after decades of air pollution from the now-shuttered Exide Technologies facility.
The department now believes the facility's lead emissions have tainted soil up to 1.7 miles downwind, potentially requiring the cleanup of between 5,000 and 10,000 properties, agency director Barbara Lee said in a conference call with reporters.
The preliminary estimates are based on an analysis of soil samples from 146 properties across a 2-square mile area of southeast Los Angeles County, including Boyle Heights, Maywood, Huntington Park and East Los Angeles.
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Though the tests found other metals that are markers of Exide's emissions, the primary concern is lead, a potent neurotoxin that poses a chronic hazard to children's health.
"We are now working to put in place a cleanup effort that will ensure that the most affected properties get cleaned up as quickly as possible," Lee said.
The disclosure raises questions about whether state and federal authorities have secured enough funds to pay for cleanup under agreements struck with the Georgia-based Exide over the last year. With potentially thousands more homes requiring lead removal, the cleanup could now cost millions of dollars, far more than the $9 million budgeted for removing soil from homes and yards.
In a deal struck in March with the U.S. attorney's office, Exide agreed to pay at least $50 million to demolish and clean the 15-acre facility and remove lead contamination from nearby homes.
The agreement allowed Exide and its employees to avoid criminal charges for years of releasing dangerous pollutants into the community.
MORE ON EXIDE:
Exide closing Vernon plant to avoid criminal prosecution
Regulators detail Exide battery plant closure after decades of pollution
Exide faces a long, costly cleanup of closed Vernon plant
