LOS ANGELES, CA – Lineage Logistics has completed all actions required by the Order for Abatement stemming from this summer’s warehouse fire in Boyle Heights, the South Coast Air Quality Management District said Friday.
The district confirmed on Friday, Nov. 13, that the completion follows months of cleanup at Freezer 1 of the cold-storage warehouse at 1400 S. Los Palos St. The district described Freezer 1 as the source of persistent odors in surrounding communities that began in July.
The district’s Hearing Board approved the order on Aug. 5–6 with more than 90 conditions and no fines. The fire that led to it began on the warehouse roof on June 17 and burned for days.
The fire and its aftermath drew responses from the Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles County Public Health, the mayor, the County Board of Supervisors, the City Council and state lawmakers. Mayor Karen Bass, Supervisor Hilda Solis, Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, state Sen. María Elena Durazo and County Public Health each pressed for accountability and cleanup during the summer.
Fire burned for a week in June
The fire started at about 2:30 p.m. on June 17 on the roof of the warehouse. Crews fought it for days before the Los Angeles Fire Department declared a knockdown of what it called the Palos Fire at 5:58 p.m. on June 24, according to the department’s incident alert.
The LAFD said the knockdown meant there were “no active flames and no threat of fire spread.” It listed the incident at 1400 S. Los Palos St. as INC#1019.
Debris in the structure continued to smolder after the knockdown, the department said, and crews moved into overhaul, using infrared drones to find hot spots. Responsibility for the property returned to the owner or tenant on June 26, and an air quality advisory remained in effect at that point.
Odor complaints lead to a notice of violation
Residents of the surrounding neighborhoods began reporting persistent odors in July. The air district issued a Notice of Violation against Lineage for odor violations on July 13, according to a statement from state Sen. María Elena Durazo the next day.
Durazo called the notice an important step toward accountability. She said residents had endured the odors for weeks, with more than 40 complaints in a single day.
She also said that “Boyle Heights has already carried more than its fair share of environmental burden.”
Hearing Board approves order with 90 conditions
The Hearing Board took up the Order for Abatement over two days, Aug. 5 and 6. It approved the order with more than 90 conditions and did not impose fines.
Josephine Lee, the district’s senior deputy counsel, said at the hearing on Aug. 6 that the order would ensure enforceable conditions to minimize odor impacts while speeding waste removal.
Dominic DiCarlo, Lineage’s vice president of global safety and compliance, told the board that all of the rotting bulk food items would be removed by the following week. He said full disinfection would take an additional week after that.
Food removal and disinfection finished in late summer
Lineage finished bulk food waste removal on Aug. 29. The company completed final power washing and disinfecting of the site on Sept. 5.
The company has said more than 89 million pounds of food waste were removed from the site. At the Hearing Board hearing, Lineage projected cleanup costs of $80 million to $100 million.
Those steps came about two months after the Hearing Board approved the order and months before the district’s Nov. 13 confirmation that every required action was done.
County cites Lineage for pest violations
Los Angeles County’s Department of Public Health acted separately on conditions inside the warehouse. In a July 29 statement, the department said it continued to issue citations and maximum allowable fines to Lineage for on-site unsanitary conditions and pest control violations.
Public Health said the June fire left food in the warehouse that began rotting and contributed to the pest conditions. Each citation fined Lineage $500 per day until the violations were corrected.
Starting July 29, the department said it cited each violation separately, for fines of up to $2,000 per day.
Small businesses report revenue losses
Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, chair of the Board of Supervisors, introduced a motion on Aug. 4 to help nearby businesses, according to her office’s statement. It describes the fire as erupting at a 500,000-square-foot cold storage facility on June 17.
A survey by the county’s Department of Economic Opportunity found that 71 of 88 small businesses in affected commercial corridors reported revenue losses after the fire.
The motion directs the department to approve a Small Business Interruption Fund within 45 days, using First District Catalytic Development Funds. The statement also said Public Health had issued six citations since July 23, each carrying a $500 daily fine until violations were corrected.
Mayor and City Council press for accountability
Mayor Karen Bass issued emergency executive orders to mobilize resources, accelerate cleanup and push for transparency and accountability for Boyle Heights.
She also sent a letter to Lineage’s chief executive demanding urgency in the cleanup and accountability. In a separate executive order, she directed city departments not to process rebuilding plan requests for the Lineage site.
According to initial reports, the City Council voted unanimously to bar the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety from issuing rebuild permits until the fire department completed its investigation. The council also directed staff to prepare an interim control ordinance on large cold-storage warehouses near homes.
The council further directed staff to explore a fund of up to $10 million for the affected community. It also asked staff to look at reallocating up to $940,000 in County Fire Assistance Grant Funds to the Boyle Heights WorkSource Center.
Fire cause listed as undetermined
The LAFD’s Arson Counter-Terrorism Section has closed its investigation, listing the cause as undetermined. The probable cause it listed was an unknown electrical event near rooftop solar panels.
Lineage has said the fire started while contractors were working on the solar panels. It has sued solar company Altus Power and contractor Pearce Services. Those claims are allegations in a civil case, and the fire department’s finding remains undetermined.
Lineage remains subject to air district rules
According to initial reports on the Nov. 13 announcement, Lineage no longer has to conduct fenceline or air monitoring under the order because its 90-plus conditions are complete. The company remains subject to all of the air district’s rules and regulations.
The interim control ordinance on large cold-storage warehouses near homes and the proposed community fund were directed to city staff, and the council has not completed either.
