Boyle Heights community leaders met with representatives from the company at the center of a days-long facility fire that caused concern as crews clean the hundreds of thousands of gallons of rotting food that was once stored at the warehouse.
A meeting was held between activists and leaders of Boyle Heights and representatives of Lineage to discuss ongoing cleanup efforts, public health and community support. This comes nearly two weeks after the fire was knocked out on June 24 – a week after it began on June 17.
While the fire has been contained, the cleanup is far from complete, with millions of pounds of rotting food that still needs to be removed from what was once a cold food storage facility.
“The impact on our community did not end when the flames were gone, families are dealing with the effects of the crisis,” said Raquel Roman, Executive Director Proyecto Pastoral at Dolores Mission.
LA City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, whose district covers Boyle Heights, expressed disappointment following the meeting.
“At the end of the day, we left this meeting without real resolve,” she said. “We are going to make sure we continue hammering on these commitments, asking for timelines, when are you going to do it, who is going to do it and what are the results we can see.”
Meanwhile, Lineage Chief Operating Officer Jeff Rivera viewed the meeting as productive and a positive first step with the community.
“This was a really good listening session. This is another step,” he said. “And we are working on our next steps to improve communication and move forward.”
During the meeting, community leaders presented Lineage with a list of priorities and demands, including long-term support for impacted residents and businesses, comprehensive environmental testing and cleanup to protect their neighborhoods and transparency throughout the recovery.
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On June 29, LA Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order requiring cleanup to be completed within 45 days, meaning Lineage has until August 13 to meet the deadline.
“A big step for us today is we started demolition on the building, so the top priority now is to get that food and debris out,” Rivera said. “So that’s what we’re really, really focused on.”
Rivera said the company does not have a timeline on when it will be cleaned up, making it unclear if they will meet the requirements of the mayor’s emergency order. The company said in a statement that it was happy with the meeting.
“We were pleased to meet with city officials and community leaders today, the latest in our ongoing effort to listen and engage with the Boyle Heights and East LA community,” the statement read. “Nothing matters more right now than completing demolition and cleanup as quickly and safely as possible to protect the health and safety of Boyle Heights and East LA. We are working urgently to remove fire-impacted food and debris and are committed to this community every step of the way. We will have an update on next steps in the coming days.”
The next community meeting scheduled with Lineage is on Thursday, July 9.