As much as 33,600 cubic yards of contaminated soil is being removed from a cleanup site at Jordan Downs in Watts, Los Angeles. Community advocates say the cleanup doesn’t meet health and safety standards.
California’s regulatory agencies have repeatedly failed in their testing, enforcement and cleanup of various lead-contaminated sites in the state, an investigation by Truthout has revealed.
The investigation comprised three separate sites in and around Los Angeles: the Quemetco lead-acid battery recycling facility in the city of Industry, the Jordan Downs housing project in Watts (a toxic cleanup site), and a former police department firing range in Pasadena.
The pattern of lax regulatory enforcement at contaminated sites comes at a time when scientists recognize that lead – one of the World Health Organization’s 10 chemicals of major public health concern – has no safe levels, especially for fetuses and children.