Quemetco (Ecobat)
Now that the Department of Justice has forced Exide to close its facility in Vernon because of years of criminal violations of safety regulations, only one lead-acid battery recycling plant remains west of the Rocky Mountains: Quemetco, in the City of Industry. This facility has been in our community since 1959, now surrounded by homes and schools—Hacienda Heights, Avocado Heights, and La Puente together comprise about 140 000 mostly Latino residents—and some Hacienda Heights residents live as close as 400 feet from Quemetco. This facility is regulated by the same state agencies that failed to protect the health of the communities next to Exide.
The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), and the Water Board are supposed to work together to regulate Quemetco, which has a long history of permit violations. AQMD is currently processing Quemetco's application to increase its throughput by 25% while DTSC is processing a renewal of Quemetco's hazardous waste permit, which does NOT mention their application to increase throughput. WE DEMAND THAT DTSC DENY QUEMETCO’S PERMIT RENEWAL.
Quemetco is currently a top polluter in LA County and is responsible for lead and arsenic and benzene (among other toxins) released into our air. It generates, treats, and disposes of hazardous waste. But only inconclusive tests for the presence of toxins like lead and arsenic in the neighboring communities have been done and without any subsequent cleanup of residential properties. Today it is imperative that the public be informed in order to organize against the permit renewal. The notorious case of Exide, the ongoing cleanup around that facility, and Quemetco’s pending application to increase lead waste processing––all of this makes our focus on this facility urgent.
CAC's MESSAGE TO YOU:
WE WANT QUEMETCO'S PRODUCTION INCREASE DENIED and the facility shut down. A 1991 Department of Toxic Substances Control soil sampling and investigation documented unsafe levels of lead in commercial and residential properties close to Quemetco, long before the facility installed the WESP and regenerative thermal oxidizer. Until there is more thorough investigation of the areas surrounding Quemetco we are concerned that the facility’s operations potentially have added and will continue to add more lead and other constituents of concern to these areas.
Where is our PROTECTION? Where is the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) and the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD)? They have the power to deny the permit renewal, deny the proposed expansion, and shut Quemetco down.