“They don’t know where the pollution left by Exide ends; it’s a genocidal culture.” – mark! Lopez

The Honorable Michael S. Regan
Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest
Washington, DC 20460
Dear Administrator Regan,
Thank you for your efforts to tackle environmental injustices that plague low-income communities of color. We
are writing to urgently request the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designate the former Exide
Technologies Inc. facility in Vernon, California to the Superfund National Priorities List. Doing so will correct
decades of missteps by the federal government that left Southeast Los Angeles County Communities susceptible
to toxic environmental pollution.
Under the previous Administration, the EPA and Department of Justice supported a bankruptcy plan for Exide
Technologies, which committed decades-worth of environmental crimes by dumping lead and other hazardous
contaminants into the air, soil, and water. Exide’s crimes impacted mostly working-class, Latino communities
who continue to suffer from cancer, asthma, learning disabilities, dangerous levels of lead in their blood, and
more. Under the deal with federal prosecutors, Exide was able to escape all criminal liability and responsibility
to clean up the facility and surrounding areas, leaving California taxpayers on the hook for the largest
environmental clean-up in California’s history. While, thanks to Governor Newsom and the State Legislature,
the State of California has allocated more than $750 million in taxpayer funding to address the crisis through
cleanup and remediation efforts, soil testing, and community outreach, it is clear that only the federal
government has the capacity to resolve this crisis.
Recent Los Angeles Times reporting suggests that the remediation efforts to date have not properly removed
lead pollution from homes and neighborhoods. Follow-up testing revealed that over 500 of 3,370 remediated
properties fail to meet State health standards for lead concentration, which is simply unacceptable. As you know
well, lead contamination in soil and dust can cause developmental delays, difficulty learning, behavioral issues,
and neurological damage in children. We are grateful to Los Angeles County and the leadership of Supervisors
Solis and Hahn for helping provide residents with access to free blood lead testing and working to ensure State
cleanup efforts are responsive to community needs. However, despite these measures, we believe the severity of
the crisis, the failure of past remediation efforts to create healthy communities, and the risk to public health
requires assistance from the EPA and the resources available under the Superfund program.
We appreciate the Agency’s site investigation work underway to test air and soil samples so the EPA can
formally demonstrate their linkage to the Exide as part of a formal Superfund rulemaking. We urge you to take
all appropriate measures to further expedite these efforts and designate the site as a federal Superfund site. The
Southeast Los Angeles neighborhoods we represent deserve the basic right to a clean, safe environment. Until
now, our community has been denied those rights. Our constituents have faced both the health impacts of toxic
exposure and the fear and uncertainty surrounding the future of cleanup efforts. Inclusion of these areas on the
National Priorities list will help provide critical resources and expertise to ensure these communities benefit
from proper clean-up. It is also crucial that EPA hear directly from community residents directly throughout the
listing process to build trust and respond to community needs.
Thank you for your consideration of our request, and we stand ready to assist you in advancing our shared
values to ensure that every person can live pollution free.
Sincerely,