Cleanup of food waste complete at burned-out Boyle Heights warehouse

Boyle Heights—Removal and cleanup of more than 89 million pounds of food waste has been completed at Lineage Logistics' burned-out cold storage warehouse in Boyle Heights, but state regulators and the company itself agree that Lineage's work is not over.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District confirmed that Lineage had cleared away all of the food and debris, and power-washed and disinfected the interior of the 491,000-square-foot site in time to meet Saturday's deadline, nearly three months after a fire raged at the warehouse for days.

The fire and its aftermath left area residents choking from the smell of rotting food and under siege by vermin in the weeks that followed, but the SCAQMD said the number of odor complaints had drastically decreased since all bulk food waste was removed a week ago, averaging less than five complaints per day compared with several hundred complaints per day in July.

A statement from Lineage said the cleanup was "an important milestone in the most ambitious and comprehensive remediation effort within the cold- storage industry following the fire that broke out on the roof of the facility."

Lineage President and CEO Greg Lehmkuhl expanded on that statement, saying, "No cleanup of this scale and speed has ever been executed before, and none of it would have been possible without the extraordinary courage and dedication of first responders, remediation crews and Lineage team members who worked around the clock to ensure the fastest possible comprehensive response.

"Core to who we are as a company is a deep commitment to show up for the communities where we live and work, as well as for the businesses and people who depend on us to store the food that ends up on dinner tables throughout our communities and around the world," he said. "We approached the challenge of this cleanup with that same mindset and that same commitment to doing right by our neighbors."

The remediation and clean-up cost Lineage $100 million and 210,000 worker hours, the company stated, adding that it used misting systems around the building perimeter, temporary enclosure barriers to contain debris and reduce odors, and conducted continuous air-quality monitoring while providing regular updates to the community through its website, email alerts, door-to- door outreach and ongoing community meeting participation.

The work is not over, Lineage and the AQMD agreed.

"Lineage must continue to follow all measures required by the Order for Abatement, which includes the use of odor-neutralizing agents during certain activities and collection of all wastewater generated by cleanup activities to be placed in a sealed tank and vented to air pollution-control equipment," the AQMD stated.

"Lineage is also required to notify the community of any future actions with potential to cause odors. The order also requires Lineage to continue fenceline and community air-monitoring," according to the statement.

The AQMD noted that its inspectors will continue daily visits to the site to ensure Lineage complies with the abatement order until the odor- mitigation efforts are no longer required.

The fire erupted June 17 on the roof of the cold storage facility at 1400 S. Los Palos St. and burned for days. More than 85 million pounds of food were stored inside, and food that began rotting following the blaze caused persistent foul odors in surrounding neighborhoods and attracted rats.

Lineage completed removal of the bulk food waste by Aug. 29, nearly two and a half months after the fire. The company had missed previous deadlines for removing the waste.

In late August, the Los Angeles City Council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee recommended that no permits to rebuild or reconstruct the warehouse should be issued.

The state Legislature has passed a bill introduced by Assemblyman Mark González, D-Los Angeles, that would require cold storage facilities to maintain a contingency fund before receiving a new building permit, among other provisions intended to ensure companies can respond when problems occur.

Lawmakers also passed supported SB 716, introduced by Sen. María Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles, which would strengthen penalties for violations at large commercial buildings when serious incidents occur.

Both measures are awaiting action by Gov. Gavin Newsom.