The long-running cleanup of the former Exide Technologies battery recycling plant in Vernon may soon be added to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund National Priorities List.
The designation would bring in federal funding to address lead contamination at the site, which was abandoned by Exide in 2020, leaving the massive cleanup effort to the state.
Along with lead, studies have indicated that a number of wells within several miles of the plant have high concentrations of trichloroethylene, a cancer-causing chemical.
“This is a critical milestone in our fight to secure environmental justice for Los Angeles communities impacted by decades of industrial pollution,” Yana Garcia, California Secretary for Environmental Protection, said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing to work with U.S. EPA to address the contamination left behind by the former Exide facility.”
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Public input on or the Superfund designation will be accepted for the next two months. To submit a comment, go to www.regulations.gov and search for docket number EPA-HQ-OLEM-2024-0376.
If the designation is greenlit, the process of determining the scope of contamination and hiring firms to do the cleanup work could begin next year.
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