The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has fined Lineage Logistics for what it called “unsanitary and nuisance” conditions at the company’s fire-damaged Boyle Heights warehouse, where residents have for weeks faced rats, swarms of flies and the smell of rotting food
The agency, which issued its first citation Thursday, is requiring that the company remove the approximately 85 million pounds of food rotting inside the warehouse, eliminate all fly breedingnd take action to stop flies from moving into nearby neighborhoods
The citation fined Lineage the maximum $500, according to a statement from the public health department. Fines will be issued per day until the violations are fixed, and additional penalties could be added if the company doesn’t come into compliance
In a statement, a spokesperson for Lineage said the citations were due to the enormity of the cleanup effort
“The citations reflect the reality of what we’re dealing with, not a lack of urgency or commitment on our part,” the statement read. “Cleaning up a site with this much food waste is an enormous undertaking, and we understand why regulators are watching closely — we would expect nothing less.”
The L.A. County public health department issued the fines following an initial inspection of the facility July 15 and a follow-up a week later, officials said in a statement
During the second inspection, inspectors found decaying organic waste, wastewater, food residue, unsanitary conditions that allowed the breeding of flies, as well as live and dead flies along the northern perimeter of the warehouse
Fly larvae were also seen on exterior plastic sheeting and the sidewalk on the north side of the damaged building
Inspectors are monitoring corrective actions and conducting regular inspections for compliance, according to the public health department
The fines come a month after firefighters declared an official knockdown of the stubborn warehouse blaze, which sent thick smoke into the surrounding neighborhoods and across Southern California
The fire also left the company with the monumental task of removing approximately 85 million pounds of food, including meat, that had been kept inside the cold-storage warehouse. At a town hall meeting, Lineage Chief Operating Officer Jeff Rivera said cleanup of the site began July 6
But in the weeks since, the stench of rotting food has drifted into nearby neighborhoods
Residents told The Times they’ve seen rats running in and out of the warehouse, and large green and blue flies have swarmed into the neighborhood
Many residents say they have refused to turn on their air conditioning units or open their windows and doors during the recent heat wave for fear that it would draw in the fetid stench of rotting food. Others have expressed concerns that swarms of flies might get into their homes
Officials with Lineage said the cleanup is ongoing
“We are working around the clock on odor control, pest control and the removal of food waste, and we will not stop until the site is clean and the community can move forward,” a spokesperson said
As part of that work, the company told the Department of Public Health in a letter dated Tuesday that it had installed up to 118 exterior fly bait stations and 130 fly bag control devices, and targeted specific locations around the warehouse to reduce the number of flies and prevent them from migrating into surrounding neighborhoods
About 350 Zevo fly traps were delivered and distributed, and another 800 were expected to arrive this week and will be distributed directly to residents, according to the letter, a copy of which was reviewed by The Times
Lineage has previously said it would commit to an order issued by Mayor Karen Bass that the millions of pounds of food be removed within 45 days
With the deadline approaching, Lineage as of Friday had removed 1,395 truck loads — an estimated 6,399 tons — of waste from the warehouse, according to an online tracker from the company
The fines from the county’s Department of Public Health also come about a week after air quality regulators issued a series of violations due to the odor coming from the facility
The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued six notices of violations to the company and, on July 17, sent a demand letter instructing Lineage to take additional steps to mitigate the odor, including using odor neutralizers on trucks transporting waste, conducting daily surface scrubbing of waste loading areas and sealing decomposing food inside the building before loading it into trucks
The company responded to the AQMD on Monday, saying it had already implemented such measures or was in the process of doing so. For example, the company has surrounded the building with odor control sprayers, applied odor neutralizer to the waste multiple times a day, and wrapped the building where possible to contain the smell, according to a statement
But in its letter, the company did push back against some of the suggested measures. Placing food waste in sealed containers inside the building before removal, for instance, would significantly extend the time necessary to clean up the entire site, the company argued
“Requiring this of Lineage could add several months to the removal effort, during which time-period odors will likely persist,” according to the letter, a copy of which was reviewed by The Times
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