For years, Terry Gonzalez-Cano encouraged her children to get outside and play in the dirt. There’s no escaping the contamination Rossmery ZayasIn June 2015, the soil on her property in the LA neighborhood of Boyle Heights was tested for lead by the California department of toxic substances control. The evidence of the plant’s contamination is not just in the soil of local homes, but in the teeth of the children who inhabit them. “This is the largest residential cleanup of its kind in California,” the toxic substances department told the Guardian in an email. It has left California taxpayers on the hook for the cleanup effort that could surpass $650m, a decision the state has vowed to fight.

Source: The Guardian March 29, 2021 09:11 UTC