Lawmakers demand EPA action on troubled cleanup of lead-contaminated L.A.-area homes

Amid California’s long struggle to hold an industrial polluter accountable and remove lead contamination from neighborhoods southeast of downtown Los Angeles, members of Congress are now calling on the federal Environmental Protection Agency to assist in the troubled cleanup of areas surrounding the closed Exide battery recycling plant — the largest and most costly effort in California history.

“It is clear that only the federal government has the capacity to resolve this crisis,” wrote Rep. Robert Garcia of Long Beach and California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla in a letter Thursday to EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. The letter cited a Los Angeles Times investigation published last week that found that numerous properties remediated at great cost to state taxpayers have been left with concentrations of lead in their yards in excess of state health standards.

“We believe the severity of the crisis, the failure of past remediation efforts to create healthy communities, and the risk to public health requires assistance from the EPA and the resources available under the Superfund program,” the lawmakers wrote.

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