The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted 5-0 to send a five-signature letter to Lineage Logistics requesting a written response within 48 hours outlining the company’s plans to support recovery efforts following a June 17 warehouse fire that spewed toxic chemicals into the air in Boyle Heights and nearby communities.
The vote to approve a motion by Board Chair and District 1 Supervisor Hilda Solis came one day after a group of Boyle Heights residents demanded financial, social and health-related support from Lineage Logistics, which operates the cold-storage warehouse that burned.
The motion by Solis, who represents Boyle Heights and communities in northeast LA County, seeks commitments for continued financial and logistical support for residents, workers, businesses and county-led recovery efforts in Boyle Heights, unincorporated East Los Angeles and western areas of the city of Commerce. The board also requested detailed plans for debris removal, environmental monitoring, hazardous material disposal, odor control and other remediation work.
The motion did not specify dollar amounts sought, and it was unclear Thursday if supervisors had sent the letter yet or if Lineage had responded.
Solis on Tuesday requested county departments to update the board on cleanup operations, environmental monitoring, public health guidance and assistance for workers and businesses, according to a statement from her office. She questioned officials Tuesday about debris removal, public health protections, air and water quality monitoring, assistance for displaced workers and small businesses, reimbursement for county response costs and long-term recovery planning.
“The emergency did not end when the flames were extinguished,” Solis said in a statement. “Residents are still living with the impacts of this fire and deserve clear answers about the cleanup, the protections in place to safeguard public health, and the support available to help them recover. The county has mobilized significant resources to respond, but we cannot carry this effort alone. Lineage must provide the transparency, financial support and partnership needed to move this recovery forward and restore the community’s confidence that this cleanup is being carried out safely and responsibly.”
Since the fire, LA County has teamed with community-based organizations, federally qualified health centers and county departments to support affected residents through the county’s Community Resiliency Center and neighborhood resource sites, officials said.
Over 9,000 air purifiers, food boxes, water crates and N95 masks have been distributed, along with health screenings and connections to County services, Solis’ office reported. The county has also deployed 64 disaster service workers to support recovery operations.
The motion approved Tuesday requests that Lineage help sustain the Community Resiliency Center and other county-supported response sites by providing food, water, N95 masks, air purifiers and other key resources. It also seeks temporary and long-term housing assistance, funding for community health services and community-based organizations, a multilingual hotline and claims center, and participation in community meetings with residents.
The motion also requests a comprehensive cleanup plan from Lineage that includes debris removal benchmarks, hazardous material disposal, air and water quality monitoring, environmental oversight and truck hauling operations designed to minimize impacts on surrounding neighborhoods.
On Monday evening, a group that included Boyle Heights residents and City Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado met with Lineage representatives to voice concerns about the fire’s aftermath.
The residents requested “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.
The councilwoman said the company did not provide solid commitments to the public, funding amounts or implementation timelines for the relief and recovery efforts requested.
Lineage issued a statement Monday night:
“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.”
The meeting followed a letter from city and county elected officials to Lineage demanding that the company remediate public health damage caused by the eight-day blaze.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, Solis and Jurado wrote to Greg Lehmkuhl, president and CEO of Lineage Inc., claiming Lineage Logistics failed 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.”
A day prior to the letter from the local elected officials, Lineage halted planned demolition work at the facility at 1400 S. Los Palos St. over concerns about preserving evidence amid the ongoing investigation into the cause of the massive blaze.
According to the letter, 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 similar to the requests in the Board of Supervisors motion. The trio 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. They also urged Lineage to establish a multilingual hotline and claims center for residents and businesses and that the company and contractors attend and participate in community meetings to directly inform and take feedback from residents and local business owners.
The fire started June 17 and burned for eight days, spewing a large 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 ensuing days.
The fire’s cause remains under unknown. Lineage officials said they believe it started when a subcontractor for Altus Power, which owns solar energy equipment on top of the building, was doing 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,” a company statement said.
LA County Officials said residents in need of assistance can call 211 or visit recovery.lacounty.gov for information on resources and services.
A copy of Solis’ Tuesday motion is on the county’s website.
