Exide lead contamination

The Exide lead contamination, in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, came from a battery recycling plant that emitted lead, arsenic and other dangerous pollutants over decades that contaminated as many as 10,000 homes in half a dozen working-class, Latino communities near the plant. Exide Technologies, owner of the lead-acid battery smelter located in Vernon, agreed in 2015 to close the facility while the massive cleanup of the contaminated soil will take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The residents have expressed outrage over the failure of state regulators to act as the plant was allowed to operate without a full permit while documented violations were occurring. The Department of Toxic Substances Control, which allowed the plant to operate, is in charge of the cleanup and is finding that the many residents do not trust them. The residents must give them permission to test the soil around their home yet many feel betrayed by this government agency.

Lead-acid batteries are used in automobiles, golf carts, fork-lifts, and motorcycles. They are recycled by grinding them open, neutralizing the acid, and separating the polymers from the lead. In the US, 97 percent of the lead from car batteries is recycled which is the highest recycling rate for any commodity. Most states require stores to take back old batteries.

The 15-acre battery recycling plant (6.1 ha) operated without a full permit while documented violations were occurring. The smelter was issued an “interim status document” by the California Department of Health Services in 1981. Exide took ownership of the smelter when they purchased the Gould-National Battery and its assets in 2000. Exide Technologies agreed to close the facility in 2015 to avoid federal criminal charges.

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