California regulators moved Thursday to accelerate soil cleanups and other actions to prevent exposure to lead contamination at the highest-risk homes near the shuttered Exide Technologies plant in Vernon. The department argued previously that it could not complete any cleanups — even of homes whose lead levels amounted to hazardous waste — until a year-long environmental review is completed this summer. Lee said in a December interview that exemptions to the California Environmental Quality Act examined by the department were not straightforward. A recent cleanup plan shows 52 of 2,711 residential properties tested through July 2016 had site-wide soil levels that exceeded 1,000 parts per million. “Lead is a highly toxic chemical and levels above 400 ppm are sufficiently significant to warrant emergency cleanup,” Drury said.

Source: Los Angeles Times January 12, 2017 23:46 UTC