Soil Near Shuttered Battery Plant Has Lead Levels 100 Times Above Health Standards
The summary, released by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, does not break down the results by property location, so residents have remained mostly in the dark about the exact details of the contamination.
Los Angeles Times:
Near Exide Plant, Dangerous Lead Levels In Some Yards Are 100 Times Above Health Limits
Homes, schools and at least one day-care center near a shuttered Vernon battery recycler are contaminated with higher levels of brain-damaging lead than previously disclosed, with soil samples at some properties found to be so hazardous they are as much as 100 times above California’s health standard, state and county records show. The public remains largely in the dark about where and at what concentrations the poisonous metal has been detected in neighborhoods near the Exide Technologies plant because state regulators have failed to release pollution readings for the vast majority of properties. The California Department of Toxic Substances Control says it has tested the soil of more than 2,400 homes. Despite repeated requests from The Times, the agency provided readings for just 269 properties. (Barboza and Poston, 7/20)
In other public health news —
Los Angeles Times:
Sewage Spill In L.A. Grows To 2.4 Million Gallons, Prompting Bans On Swimming In Seal Beach And Long Beach
A damaged sewage line spilled a total of about 2.4 million gallons of untreated waste into the Los Angeles River and has forced the closure of all beaches in Long Beach and Seal Beach, officials said Tuesday. The sewage line began leaking Monday about 2 p.m. and was stopped late that night, but the cracked pipe split again Tuesday as repairs were underway, said Tonya Durrell, a spokeswoman for the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works. The overflow, which occurred near 6th Street and Mission Road in Boyle Heights, was fully stopped Tuesday afternoon, Durrell said. (Rocha, Fernandez and Hamilton, 7/19)
Orange County Register:
Seal Beach, Long Beach Beaches Closed Because Of Massive Sewage Spill From Downtown Los Angeles
Beaches in Seal Beach and Long Beach were closed Tuesday in the wake of a massive sewage spill in downtown Los Angeles that flowed 20 miles and into the Pacific Ocean. The surf in Seal Beach and Long Beach were made off-limits to waders and swimmers after the waste traveled to the ocean via the Los Angeles River. Signs on Tuesday dotted the sand in both cities, telling people to keep out of the water by order of health officials. (Fausto, Smith and Edwards, 7/19)
Capital Public Radio:
California To Set Legal Limit On Probable Carcinogen In Water
The California State Water Resources Control Board will soon set a maximum contaminant level for 1,2,3 Trichloropropane, or 1,2,3 TCP. It's found in industrial solvents and cleaning agents, but it was once found in two popular soil fumigants made by Dow Chemical and Shell Oil Company. ... Right now, water systems in California are only required to notify residents if the chemical is found at a certain health-based advisory level. (Quinton, 7/19)
LA Daily News:
IRS Won’t Tax Porter Ranch Residents On Gas Leak Reimbursements
The Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday announced that Porter Ranch residents who received financial assistance from the Southern California Gas Company in the midst of the massive Porter Ranch-area natural gas leak will not have to pay taxes on the money. However, family and friends who received payments under the utility’s relocation plan for residents must include these payments in their gross income. “My neighbors in Porter Ranch have been through enough,” Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, and a Porter Ranch resident, said in a statement. “They shouldn’t have to worry that the IRS would seek to tax them on the reimbursements they received from SoCalGas.” (Wilcox, 7/19)