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A 2021 project’s re-development of 141 West Avenue 34, an apartment building in Lincoln Heights Los Angeles, brought up a forgotten case of a American Caster Corporation toxic chemical dump in 1984. A total of 252 barrels filled with toxic chemicals were found underneath the property. Some of the barrels were nearly empty when the contents corroded through the containers and into the soil. Others were dumped into sewer lines.
The residents are demanding a new cleanup plan and accused the state of failing to properly test the chemical dumpsite and other surrounding properties underneath the Lincoln Heights neighborhood. In 2021 it was revealed that there were high levels of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, that were more than 4000 times higher than what is recommended for safe residential standards. The former head of environmental health for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Angelo Bellomo, is asking both regulators and the company planning development to pause the demolition of the building to conduct an investigation into the dumping and perform more testing and cleanup.