Lineage cited for rodent and pest control violations at Boyle Heights warehouse

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health cited Lineage for rodent and pest control violations at the burned Boyle Heights warehouse as crews continue to clean up the roughly 85 million pounds of rotting food left behind after the fire. 

While visiting the cold-storage facility on July 22, inspectors found decaying waste, standing water and a plethora of flies throughout the property.

The citation, issued on July 23, fines the company up to $500 per day until the violations are corrected. 

Public health staff ordered Lineage to take several corrective actions, including properly disposing of the decaying food, thoroughly cleaning and sanitizing all areas that could attract flies, eliminating breeding areas for flies and preventing flies at the facility from moving to the surrounding neighborhoods. 

These steps must be taken in addition to the previous notice that Public Health issued on June 29, ordering mitigation efforts in the nearby communities. 

Inspectors will return to the property to ensure the company has taken measures to address the issues. 

This is the second time a regulatory agency has issued a mandate to Lineage in the past week. On July 17, the South Coast Air Quality Management District ordered the company to craft a plan to reduce the foul, garbage-like odors coming from the warehouse after regulators received more than 900 complaints within a week. 

Lineage submitted its odor mitigation plans to AQMD earlier this week, which include adding more odor neutralizers while loading debris, installing odor control sprayers around the facility, and washing the docking areas daily. 

As of July 24, crews have removed roughly 12.1 million pounds of the decaying waste or 14% of the debris. Crews began transporting the rotting food on June 28, a day before Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass set a 45-day timeline to remove all of the biohazardous waste. To do so, Lineage would need to transport roughly 1,888,889 pounds per day. 

Currently, Lineage has been moving roughly 466,615 pounds of food every day for the past 26 days.