Boyle Heights meeting between Lineage and coalition of community organizations to address immediate concerns and needs

Days after the mayor of Los Angeles sent a letter to Lineage warehouse chief executives demanding detailed cleanup plans and more, a coalition of Boyle Heights community organizations and city leaders addressed the company to discuss the ongoing recovery from the massive June 17 warehouse fire.

Los Angeles Councilmember Ysabel Jurado convened the 3:30 p.m. meeting, where community organizations, faith leaders, environmental justice advocates, housing advocates, and small businesses voiced their concerns about the ongoing impacts of the fire on residents, workers, and local businesses to Lineage representatives.

Lineage president and CEO Greg Lemkuhl said last week that they are "committed to this community during this recovery, and beyond." He also said that work was underway 24/7 to remove the millions of pounds of spoiled food, which has attracted an infestation of rodents and created a widespread putrid smell.

While community leaders demanded concrete commitments to address cleanup, public health protections, environmental monitoring, communications, housing, and economic recovery at Monday's meeting, Lineage issued an email response saying the top priority right now is demolition and cleanup "as quickly as possible."

Mayor Karen Bass wrote earlier in her letter that the company had not committed to the "most basic steps of sharing comprehensive, real-time data about the volume of rotting food and debris being removed from the site." 

She demanded comprehensive and detailed plans for material removal, odor and vector control, fire water runoff management, air quality monitoring, removal of hazardous materials, identification of certified waste haulers and biohazard disposal contractors and publication of designated operating hours for truck hauling. 

Following Monday's meeting, Councilmember Jurado said, Lineage representatives heard from the community "but did not provide concrete public commitments, funding amounts, or implementation timelines for the relief and recovery measures requested, including relocation assistance, no-cost remediation, health support, small business relief, and a dedicated claims process."

Lineage sent the following email in response to Monday's 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. 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."

Jurado said her office will continue to work with community partners to document the commitments requested, track responses from Lineage and other responsible parties and press for a transparent recovery process, "fully funded, and centered on the residents and businesses most impacted by the fire."