By JOSE HERRERA | City News Service
A Los Angeles City Council committee on Tuesday recommended that reconstruction permits be withheld for Lineage Logistics’ burned-out cold-storage warehouse in Boyle Heights, as pressure mounts on the company after it missed key deadlines to remove food waste.
In a unanimous vote, the Planning and Land Use Management Committee approved two separate but related measures that seek to bar the company from rebuilding its damaged property at 1400 S. Los Palos St., and to increase fines ranging from $25,000 to $1 million for notices of violations or noncompliance.
The matter now moves forward to the full City Council for consideration.
Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado, who represents the 14th Council District where the cold-storage warehouse is located, has stated that she does not want any permits issued to the company until a full investigation into the cause of the fire is complete and other requirements are met.
“I want to be unequivocal: I oppose approval of the pending applications to rebuild this facility,” Jurado said Tuesday, addressing her colleagues on the commission.
“This is not, and cannot be treated as, a routine rebuild. For more than two months, Boyle Heights families have carried the consequences of this disaster: smoke, unbearable odors, flies and pests, documented health impacts, economic disruption and uncertainty. Lineage should not be allowed to move faster on rebuilding than it has on cleanup, accountability and making this community whole,” she added.
Jurado additionally hopes to secure an interim control ordinance — or temporary law — prohibiting demolition, building, land use, grading and other applicable permits or certificates of occupancy for large cold-storage warehousing and distribution uses in close proximity to residential neighborhoods and sensitive sites, such as parks, schools, day care centers and libraries in Boyle Heights.
The committee’s action comes one day after The LA Local and Boyle Heights Beat, two online news publications, reported discrepancies in Lineage Logistics’ daily updates on food waste removal.
A representative for Lineage Logistics did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
Last week, Lineage said it had removed 104% of the rotting food waste from the warehouse — a figure that was hotly contested by local residents because the cleanup was not complete, according to The LA Local.
The company said Freezer 2 had been demolished and all food waste removed, while Freezer 1, which remains, was 92% clear of food waste, The LA Local reported.
“Our prior reporting percentages tied weight removed from the building relative to our estimates of total food weight at the time of the fire. That approach produced figures greater than 100% in our reporting this week, potentially creating the misimpression that food removal waste was complete when it is not,” Lineage said Friday. “Accordingly, as we have strived to meet community notification requirements under the AQMD order, we have also reiterated that cleanup is nearly complete but some food waste remains.
“While we are in the final stretch of food cleanup, with hundreds of workers working around the clock, there is still a significant amount of loose food debris that requires manual removal. The final stretch of food waste removal is the most complex, and we continue to prioritize both speed and safety. Going forward, we will evaluate the completion percentage in a manner that will show 100% completion when food waste removal is fully done,” the company’s statement continued.
“We understand that seeing the number move from 100% is frustrating. It’s equally frustrating for us. To be clear, this is a correction to how we measure and report progress — it is not a change in our effort, our resourcing, or our commitment to this community. We are not pausing, slowing, or reducing our work in any way. If anything, this final stretch demands more focused effort, not less urgency, and we are treating it that way.”
Lineage Logistics is likely to face increasing fines from a regulatory agency, as well as city and county departments. The company pushed back its deadline for completing food removal until Aug. 30, almost a week after a deadline established by a South Coast Air Quality Management District hearing board earlier this month.
Lineage had also not completed the task by an Aug. 14 deadline cited by Los Angeles officials, although the company insisted the 45-day deadline set by Mayor Karen Bass did not expire until this past Friday.
As cleanup continues at the cold-storage warehouse following the June 17 fire, the stench of rotting food and pest problems have disrupted the surrounding neighborhood.
Company officials said they have already begun the next phase of the cleanup, which involves “proactive decontamination and cleaning in parallel with removing the remaining loose debris, including power washing, disinfecting, detailing and deodorizing.”
“Our focus remains on fully remediating the site to eliminate odor impacts on the surrounding community,” according to Lineage.