A Los Angeles warehouse fire has evolved into a staggering waste crisis for residents, with KABC reporting 85 million pounds of food rotting in Boyle Heights.
The company that owns the site is in a public standoff with city leaders over a cleanup deadline it says it cannot feasibly meet.
Here's what to know
City officials say Lineage Logistics did not meet an Aug. 14 deadline to clear spoiled food from its Boyle Heights warehouse after a June 17 fire.
The blaze burned for about a week and left behind a massive amount of food that could no longer be used.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass set a 5 p.m. Aug. 14 deadline for the food waste to be removed, but Lineage told KABC it did not agree that the clock had expired by then.
The company says it is 37 days into a 45-day cleanup period and that 93% of the bulk food waste has already been taken out.
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"The 45-day cleanup clock began on July 7, the day the Los Angeles Fire Department ended its 24-hour fire watch at the site after persistent flare-ups made it unsafe to enter," Lineage asserted in a statement.
More background
The company says it expects to fully complete all food removal, spot cleaning, and disinfection by Aug. 27.
Bass rejected the company's assertions.
"Lineage is a multibillion-dollar company with the resources to meet the 45-day deadline I set. They have indicated that they will not meet it," she began.
"Meanwhile, the people of Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles continue to live with the consequences," Bass continued, before describing the ongoing impact to residents.
"Families are still dealing with horrific odors and the constant uncertainty of when this nightmare will end."
What's being done?
Lineage says about 400 workers are at the warehouse each day and that the cleanup is costing roughly $100 million.
The company also says the July 7 start date was "documented in every report we have submitted to the city" and was recognized by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
The cleanup involves more than simply hauling away ruined food; the site must also be spot-cleaned and disinfected.
For Boyle Heights residents, the immediate concern remained getting the site fully cleared and sanitized as quickly as possible.
"For weeks, the City has publicly told Boyle Heights, the media, and anyone that would listen that August 14 was the deadline for Lineage to remove the food waste from this facility," Councilmember Ysabel Jurado said.
"If Lineage believed that deadline was wrong, it had weeks to say so publicly."
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