By Alfredo Santana
Contributing Writer
LOS ANGELES — The South Coast Air Quality Management District has threatened to impose penalties on the trust that managed the demolition of two large buildings at Exide Technologies battery plant for four notices of violations issued between November 2020 and November 2021.
A letter addressed to the Vernon Environmental Response Trust trustee Roberto Puga dated Feb. 3 indicates the property failed to keep and mail lead and arsenic samples, did not report a power outage within one hour, failed to operate the facility in compliance with the permit’s terms and conditions, and failed to implement a plan.
The letter, signed by Ryan Mansell, senior deputy district counsel with the SCAQMD, indicates that applicable state health and safety codes authorize penalties from $5,000 to $10,000 per violation depending on the circumstances.
He wrote that the alleged violation took place on Nov. 30, 2020, Oct. 25 and Nov. 12, 2021, and Feb. 4, 2022.
Mansell also wrote that he preferred to resolve the violations “as simply as possible without taking further legal action,” but to do so he would have to evaluate all the facts and circumstances pertaining to the infractions.
He urged Puga to send him documentation to help determine whether penalties should be imposed, and if so of what amount.
Puga replied Feb. 24 missive that the trust was created as part of the Exide Holdings bankruptcy, and the court provided limited funds to complete the environmental cleanups at the former battery smelter.
Puga, the president and founder of PathForward Consulting, the company in charge of the trust, said that 80% of all remediation funds had been spent.
“Payment of civil penalties could only be paid directly from the trust’s limited remaining funds, thus lowering the available amount of funding for completion of environmental actions and diverting funds that could otherwise be used for cleaning up the facility and protecting human health and the environment,” he wrote in the attached documents.
At its inception, the trust received $11.16 million from the bankruptcy settlement to hire environmental cleanup companies to demolish and remove two of three large facilities used to crush batteries to recycle lead.
But dwindling resources for the highly expensive work forced Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislators to hammer out a plan to provide $132 million in public funds as part of the 2021-22 state budget.
Puga said that each alleged violation did not last more than one day, when the incidents occurred, and provided explanations why they happened.
On the first notice of violation for failure “to retain and provide lead and arsenic samples,” Puga alleged that a postal service worker erroneously took unauthorized ambience air samples from the laboratory hired to measure presence of toxic metals.
“This was an isolated incident caused by a United States Postal Service employee. No other samples have been inappropriately taken from the laboratory or the … facility since the incident,” he wrote.
The second violation, an incident related to a sudden power breakdown, was blamed on an electrical conduit that “was immediately repaired.”
“Power [was] restored to the leak detection system,” in the so called Torit Baghouse within a day of the outage, he said.
A constant energy flow was key to maintaining negative air pressure within the two buildings that were being dismantled. The structures had been used to split old batteries, and scaffolding with special tarps were used to prevent lead from escaping outdoors.
Puga argued that no deconstruction or decontamination work was conducted during the breakdown, and negative pressure values at the site remained within allowed thresholds, with the exception from 10:40 through 11:15 a.m. when power was unplugged for repairs.
“Ambient and sampling data collected on both Oct. 25, 2021 and Oct. 26, 2021 indicated that measured concentrations of lead and arsenic were all well below permitted levels,” he wrote.
On the violation dated Nov. 12, 2021 alleging lax dust monitoring around the site’s perimeter during deconstruction, Puga said that gauging took place despite emails from an SCAQMD inspector indicating no such measures were required.
He referred to a message from inspector Alemayehu Solomon in response to an email sent by the project manager from the state Department of Toxic Substances Control requesting clarification on deconstruction of container storage in areas 2 and 3.
“I don’t believe the continuous real-time monitoring is required in this case. However, I do believe it is required for the demolition of the larger structures onsite (the main plant and the office, for example),” Puga quoted Solomon’s text.
Finally, the fourth violation was a second power outage that halted deconstruction until the issue was fixed.
Puga said exterior doors and openings to the enclosure were closed until power was restored to the baghouses, and negative air pressure returned to permitted levels within an hour of the incident.
“Negative pressure dropped below permit limits at only two of the four monitoring stations, and for only a brief, approximate 15 minute, duration while repairs were being made,” Puga said.
Lead and arsenic levels measured at below threshold limits at both power incidents, he wrote.
The Department of Toxic Substances Control took over the former Exide facility after deconstruction of building 3 finished last year. Currently, the state agency monitors lead and arsenic at soil and underground water, and has pledged to detoxify them.
Also, the Vernon Environmental Response Trust remains active to pay taxes, keep up the facility and to renew permits for indoor and outdoor air monitoring stations parked on grounds.
In an email, Puga said the trust “will continue to engage with the SCAQMD regarding this issue.”
