LOS ANGELES (CNS) – Boyle Heights residents are expected to pack a local middle school Thursday evening to hear from elected officials, experts and representatives from Lineage Logistics about the status of recovery efforts from the weeklong fire at Lineage’s cold-storage warehouse.
Mayor Karen Bass, county Supervisor Hilda Solis and City Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado are among the elected officials expected to attend the 6 p.m. Thursday meeting at Stevenson Middle School. According to Bass’ office, representatives from Lineage are also expected to attend the session, which is expected to provide residents with information on “recovery efforts, environmental monitoring and available community resources.”
Due to limited space, residents planning to attend were asked to register in advance at bit.ly/boyleheightstownhall.
It will be the second interaction this week between residents and Lineage officials. On Monday night, a group of residents and community leaders, including Jurado, met with Lineage officials to discuss their concerns stemming from the fire that gutted much of the warehouse and left behind 85 million pounds of rotting food — leading to noxious odors, environmental concerns and an influx of rodents.
During the meeting, residents asked 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.
Jurado said Lineage did not provide concrete public commitments, funding amounts or implementation timelines for the relief and recovery measures requested.
Lineage issued a statement Monday night saying, “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. 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.”
On Tuesday, the county Board of Supervisors voted to send a list of demands to the company to ensure continued support for impacted community members. The board called on the company to respond within 48 hours.
The board motion, authored by Solis, called on Lineage to keep providing resources and financial support for county community response centers, including food, water, masks and air purifiers. It also called for Lineage to provide temporary housing for residents in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles impacted by the fire, including shelter for pets and service animals, “for the duration of the remediation efforts.”
The county also called on Lineage to provide funding for local health clinics and county health services involved in the response to the fire, and financial support for community organizations that have been providing support for residents and businesses. It also called for the establishment of a multilingual hotline and claims center, community meetings, details of plans for removing rotting food and other materials from the structure, decontamination plans and daily publication of results from monitoring of water runoff from the site and air quality. It also asked for details of disposal plans for the materials being removed from the site.
Last weekend, Bass, Solis and Jurado sent a letter to Greg Lehmkuhl, president and CEO of Lineage Inc., and accused the company 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.”
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.
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.
Recovery work has been continuing at the site, but Lineage notified city and county officials on Friday that it was ordered to halt demolition of the building itself, amid the ongoing investigation into the cause of the fire. Lineage insisted that it was ready to proceed with the demolition, calling the delay “unacceptable.”
The company pushed city and county officials to allow the demolition work to proceed.
According to a Wednesday statement from Bass’ office, Lineage “is engaged in demolition of the warehouse and debris removal along Indiana Street.” Efforts are also continuing to remove the 85 million pounds of food waste.
Steps were also being taken to mitigate odors through applications of deodorizer and the use of misters inside and outside the building. Additional plastic sheeting has also been placed on the exposed side of the structure.
A community health clinic will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at Lou Costello Recreation Center, 3141 E. Olympic Blvd. The same site will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday.
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