A group of Boyle Heights residents Tuesday wait to see if their requested financial, social and health-related support from the operator of the cold-storage warehouse gutted by a fire will be granted.
City Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado, who represents Boyle Heights, organized the private meeting Monday between executives of Lineage Logistics and a coalition of community leaders.
“We brought Lineage to the table today because the era of corporate silence in Boyle Heights is over,” Jurado said on Monday. “For three weeks, residents have breathed in the consequences of this fire while waiting for basic answers. We are drawing a line in the sand: public health comes before corporate convenience.”
At 5 p.m., following the meeting, Jurado and some residents shared details of their discussion, the priorities presented to Lineage Logistics, the company’s response and the next steps in the recovery effort.
The residents shared their demands directly with Lineage, asking for “emergency housing support, smoke and toxin remediation, relief for small businesses and street vendors, funding for community health providers, stronger community notification, and clear, science-based information throughout the recovery,” according to Jurado’s office.
Representatives from Lineage attended the meeting and heard directly from impacted residents and business owners.
Jurado said the company did not provide concrete public commitments, funding amounts or implementation timelines for the relief and recovery measures requested.
“We were pleased to meet with city officials and community leaders today, the latest in our ongoing effort to listen and engage with the Boyle Heights and East LA community,” Lineage said in a statement.
“Nothing matters more right now than completing demolition and cleanup as quickly and safely as possible to protect the health and safety of Boyle Heights and East LA. We are working urgently to remove fire-impacted food and debris and are committed to this community every step of the way. We will have an update on next steps in the coming days.”
The meeting came two days after city and county elected officials sent a scathing letter to Lineage, demanding that the company take a series of steps to remediate public health damage caused by the eight-day blaze.
The letter from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, County Supervisor Hilda Solis and Jurado — addressed to Greg Lehmkuhl, president and CEO of Lineage Inc. — accused Lineage Logistics of failing to commit to “the most basic steps of sharing comprehensive, real-time data about the volume of rotting food and debris being removed from the site.”
The letter also came one day after planned demolition work was halted at the facility at 1400 S. Los Palos St., with Lineage officials citing concerns about preserving evidence amid the ongoing investigation into the cause of the massive fire.
The letter says Bass “is fully prepared to deploy the full measure of her executive power to champion and protect the community of Boyle Heights, as well as unincorporated East Los Angeles, in partnership with Los Angeles County Board Chair and First District Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, who took action through an urgency motion on June 23.”
Bass, Solis and Jurado listed several demands such as providing immediate, temporary housing for Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles residents impacted by the fire, the creation of a smoke and toxin remediation program at no cost to renters, homeowners and business owners, and to fund qualified community health centers that are not providing mobile medical clinics to the community.
They called for an enhanced notification schedule with 48-hour advanced notice of all major hauling activities, demolition phases, or operations likely to generate dust, odor, noise or traffic.
Additionally, the three elected officials urged Lineage to establish a multilingual hotline and claims center for residents and businesses.
They also urged, among other things, that the company and contractors attend and participate in community meetings to directly inform and take feedback from residents and business owners in the neighborhood.
The fire broke out June 17 and raged for eight days, sending a massive amount of smoke into the atmosphere and prompting warnings for nearby residents to stay inside.
The city, county and state all issued local emergency declarations in the days following the fire.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but Lineage officials have said they believe the fire started while a subcontractor working for Altus Power, which owns the solar array on top of the building, was conducting tests on the panels.
Altus Power has stated its first concern is for the community affected by the fire.
“We continue to cooperate fully with local officials in their ongoing investigation,” the company said.