www.LATimes.com
The federal government has been formally asked by the state of California to add the former site of Exide Technologies to the National Priorities List to make it eligible for additional clean-up funds. The California Department of Toxic Substances Control estimates lead, arsenic, and cadmium was released by the Vernon-based battery recycler during its decades of operation. These operations spread contaminants to parks, schools, and nearly 10,000 properties in the largely working-class Latino neighborhoods of Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles, Maywood, Huntington Park and Commerce. The state has committed $700 million so far and have cleaned nearly 4,000 properties with another 2,000 properties expected to finish over the next two years.