Rats, flies and the horrible stench of rotting food continued to plague residents living within sniffing distance of a fire-ravaged food cold storage warehouse in Boyle Heights Tuesday.
Southern California air-quality regulators have issued a violation notice to the operator of the warehouse that was heavily damaged in a weeklong fire, due to odors from the rotting food and other materials in the structure wafting into nearby neighborhoods.
According to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the agency on Sunday received more than 40 complaints from residents “reporting rotten, sour, garbage-type odors.” AQMD inspectors traced the odors to the Lineage Logistics warehouse, where cleanup operations are continuing from the fire, and the company was given a notice of violation of public nuisance rules on Sunday.
AQMD officials said state health and safety rules “prohibit emissions that cause injury, nuisance or annoyance to a significant number of people or the public.”
The notice of violation can lead to civil penalties, or potentially a lawsuit if no settlement is reached.
Roughly 85 million pounds of food was stored in the Los Palos Street warehouse, with most of it now spoiled and rotting. Efforts to remove the food and other debris from the fire-damaged warehouse are continuing. The most recent figures from Lineage indicate that 356 tons of food waste have been removed from the building, with 835 tons of overall waste taken away.
Residents have been complaining loudly about impacts from the fire, most notably citing issues such as noxious odors, vermin, flies and rodents.
Hundreds of mostly angry residents packed a community town hall meeting in Boyle Heights last week, lashing out at Lineage company officials and elected leaders — including Mayor Karen Bass — and demanding protection and compensation, including funding for temporary housing.
Lineage officials last week announced a series of community support efforts, specifically:
— vouchers for short-term hotel and rental assistance for “residents who choose to temporarily relocate during the cleanup and remediation process”;
— delivery of more air purifiers, air conditions and masks to residents, with company officials saying they have already distributed more than 600 air purifiers and 2,000 masks as part of its earlier community donation;
— provision of grocery vouchers redeemable at a Food4Less store on Olympic Boulevard;
— cash assistance provided through pre-paid cards; and
— support to assist residents with payments of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power utility bills.
The fire broke out June 17 at the warehouse at 1400 S. Los Palos St. 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.
Lineage officials said they hope to complete debris removal from the site within 45 days.