Cleanup efforts at the Lineage cold-storage warehouse in Boyle Heights are nearing the halfway mark, six weeks after a fire at the depot left millions of pounds of rotting food to pollute the Los Angeles neighborhood.
The city’s focus is shifting from providing immediate relief to removing noxious debris, reducing foul odors and tainted air, and putting affected residents into interim housing, said Jon Brown, assistant general manager of the Los Angeles Emergency Management Department.
“Recovery is not linear,” Brown said at a city Emergency Operations Board meeting Thursday afternoon. “Right now we are right at that intersection of short, intermediate and long-term recovery.”
The fire broke out on June 17, burning for more than a week and collapsing the 500,000-square-foot facility. The disaster left Boyle Heights wrapped in a cloud of severe odor, pest infestations and potentially toxic air, leaving the community outraged over ongoing cleanup delays.
Cleanup continues at the Lineage warehouse in Boyle Heights on Wednesday.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Millions of pounds of spoiled food remain inside the collapsed warehouse facility, two weeks before classes begin for local L.A. Unified students.
Brown declined to comment when asked about the status of Mayor Karen Bass’ order to remove food waste and debris within 45 days, but emphasized that officials are moving quickly to hold Lineage responsible.
Lineage has racked up fines from both the Los Angeles County health department and the South Coast Air Quality Management District over the last several weeks as residents file complaints over ongoing odor issues.
“We know that the Boyle Heights and East L.A. communities have been underserved and have a history of environmental impact,” Brown said. “We have a huge responsibility to stabilize the households, businesses, and the communities within the impacted area, accelerate remediation and restore infrastructure.”
On Monday, Lineage representatives filed permits with the city to rebuild the warehouse to its “pre-fire condition,” drawing swift condemnation from locals and Bass, who decried the application as “a slap in the face” to Boyle Heights families.
The Emergency Management Department is expected to release a status report on neighborhood recovery efforts Friday.
