Supervisors Unanimously Support EPA Proposal to Add Exide Site to Federal Superfund Site

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Sept. 10 approved a motion by Supervisors Hilda L. Solis and Janice Hahn to express its support for a proposal by the United States Environmental Protection Agency or EPA to add the former Exide battery recycling plant and surrounding communities into the national priorities list as a Superfund site in Spring of 2025. The former battery recycling plant contaminated soil in homes across Southeast Los Angeles, East Los Angeles, and Boyle Heights over a period of decades. Many continue to deal with lead contamination and inadequate cleanup. 

Hahn, who represents the communities of Southeast Los Angeles impacted by the contamination, released the following statement:

“The families impacted by the Exide disaster have faced one indignity after another. Home should be our safest place, but instead their homes were marred by toxic contamination. And to add insult to injury, there are serious concerns about the pace, efficacy and scale of the state’s cleanup efforts.

“Securing the Superfund designation will mean that the federal government grasps what we’ve already known: that this problem is urgent and that these communities deserve better. It is not just about cleaning up contamination; it’s about restoring dignity for these communities.”

With the unanimous support of the Supervisors, the Board will send a letter to the EPA reaffirming the county’s support for this important step in finishing the cleanup with the breadth of resources available for Superfund sites. The Exide site proposal is currently in the standard 60-day public comment period required of all proposed additions to the National Priorities List. The EPA must respond to any comments received before the site can be added.