Exide Home > Residential Cleanup > Health and Safety
Exide Residential Cleanup Health and Safety
Program Overview
DTSC is committed to ensuring that workers cleaning and restoring homes and community members living in the Preliminary Investigation Area (PIA) are fully protected while cleanup is underway. DTSC meets this objective by ensuring that its staff and contractors fully comply with all relevant Federal, State, and local agency standards. The Federal standards include the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) referenced in 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) section 1910.120 for general industry and 1926.65 for construction. These standards require that employers follow specific work policies, practices, and procedures to protect workers potentially exposed to hazardous substances. The State standards include Title 8 California Code of Regulations (CCR) section 1532.1, California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Forms 8551 and 8552, South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Rules 403 and 1466, and Stormwater Best Management Practices specified by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region. These State standards cover a variety of requirements, including proper training and monitoring of lead-abatement workers, advance notification of lead abatement work, and particulate emission limits for construction or remediation sites. The local standards generally govern COVID-19 requirements, street use, traffic control, and property grading.
Documentation
DTSC contractors have prepared and submitted documentation describing procedures that comply with regulatory standards governing the project. DTSC reviews these documents and seeks revisions, if and when necessary. Once the documents are finalized, Project staff are required to review, understand, and implement the procedures described in the documents when performing cleanup-related work. The Master Excavation, Disposal, and Restoration Design Plan (Work Plan) contains procedures that are intended to comply with all of these requirements. The project Health and Safety Plans (HASPs) are more specific, and cover the requirements documented in the HAZWOPER Standard and in Title 8 CCR section 1532.1. Procedures in these documents generally describe roles and responsibilities, worker training, medical monitoring requirements, personal protective equipment, site hazards and control measures, and emergency procedures.
Evaluation
Each contractor/sub-contractor working of the Exide project is responsible for compliance with all safety and health protection requirements for its employees. The project health and safety program is constantly evaluated to ensure that it is protecting workers and communities, to identify improvements, and to implement them to heighten employee and community safety. To conduct this evaluation, DTSC observes field workers performing cleanup, notes any deficiencies, and brings them to the contractor’s attention. The contractor then corrects any issues to ensure full compliance with all health and safety protocols developed for the project. DTSC contractors also collect monitoring data to ensure these protocols are effective in meeting health and safety standards. The collection of personal and area air monitoring as well as worker blood lead level data is especially useful in evaluating compliance. This data is linked below but has been redacted as required by law to protect worker privacy.
The data shows that lead dust and blood lead levels specified by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal OSHA) are well below the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) (50 micrograms/cubic meter or µg/m3 ) and Blood Lead Levels (BLL) (40 micrograms/deciliter or µg/dL), respectively.
For more information please contact:
Jeffrey Muller
Senior Engineering Geologist
Field Operations Supervisor
Mobile (323) 482-0161
Jeffrey.Muller@dtsc.ca.gov
Exide Links
Exide Quick Links
You may find additional information on the Cleanup Sites and Hazardous Waste Permitted Facilities in the EnviroStor database.
- Subscribe to EnviroStor email alert (Permitting)
- Subscribe to EnviroStor email alert (Corrective Action)
Site Mitigation & Restoration Program Links
- Brownfields
- Cleanup in Vulnerable Communities Initiative (CVCI)
- EnviroStor
- Exide
- Human and Ecological Risk Office
- Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Facility Investigation and Cleanup Program
- Loans & Grants
- Land Use Restriction Sites
- Santa Susana Field Laboratory
- School Sites
- Sea Level Rise
- State Superfund Program
- Strategic Plan and Program Enhancement Work Plan
- Vapor Intrusion
- Contact Information
Site Mitigation & Restoration Program Related Links
Exide Home > Cost Recovery Litigation
Exide Residential Cleanup Health and Safety
DTSC Litigation to Recover Cleanup Costs and to Secure Future Cleanup
In December 2020, DTSC filed a lawsuit in federal court against three former operators/owners of the Exide facility, and seven arrangers and transporters that sent hazardous material to the facility. The lawsuit seeks to reimburse the State for costs that DTSC has incurred, and will continue to incur, to investigate and clean up the site and surrounding area from contamination. Due to its size and complexity, the litigation is broken up into phases.
March 2023 Update
Phase 2 Trial
The second major phase of DTSC’s cost recovery litigation will occur in May 2023, with a trial starting on Tuesday, May 30th at 9:00 a.m. at the U.S. District Court (Central District of California). The trial will be in-person and open to the public.
- Trial location: First Street Courthouse, 350 W. 1st Street, Courtroom 10A, 10th Floor, Los Angeles, California 90012
- Judge: Honorable Stephen V. Wilson
- Covid protocol: Please see coronavirus guidance on the court’s website
- Trial topic: DTSC’s cost recovery for lead contamination at the Vernon Plant and within 1/2 mile of the Vernon Plant
- Trial length: Unknown (potentially up to a week or more)
Note: This trial does not include any of the third parties that were added to the litigation by defendant NL Industries (see August 2021 update, below).
For questions regarding the courthouse, please go to the court’s website.
November 2022 Update
After the May 2022 trial, Judge Wilson issued a decision in October.
- The Court found that the scientific evidence was insufficient to establish that lead from the Vernon Plant could have plausibly caused contamination throughout the residential Preliminary Investigation Area (PIA). Thus, the Defendants were not held liable for costs of the cleanup in the residential portion of the PIA.
- The Court held that DTSC can potentially recover costs for lead contamination within 1/2 mile of the Vernon Plant.
May 2022 Update
Phase 1 Trial
DTSC’s cost recovery litigation against Defendants has been ongoing since December 2020. The first major phase of the litigation occurred in May 2022, with a trial to determine the scope of the compensable cleanup area.
August 2021 Update
In December 2020, DTSC filed a Complaint against three former operators/owners of the Exide facility, and seven arrangers and transporters that sent material to the facility. A copy of the Complaint, and information about it, can be found in DTSC’s news release: California Sues Former Owners and Operators of Exide’s Vernon Site.
In August 2021, Defendant NL Industries filed a Third-Party Complaint against:
- Five nearby industrial facility owners,
- Nine local governments that own property in the Preliminary Investigation Area (PIA), and
- Fifty entities that own properties (some already cleaned up, some others not yet cleaned up) in the PIA.
Documents filed in court in response to the Third-Party Complaint include (list below is not all inclusive):
- Extension of time for City of Los Angeles to respond to the Third-Party Complaint and request for Court to approve the extension.
- Extension of time for County of Los Angeles to respond to the Third-Party Complaint and request for Court to approve the extension.
- Dismissal of Champery Rental REO LLC (one of the fifty entities named in the Third-Party Complaint)
- Order Granting Joint Motion to Stay Third-Party Deadlines
Contact information for the NL Industries attorney who signed the Third-Party Complaint, the above Dismissal, and the above Stipulation, is listed on the first page of the Third-Party Complaint.
Any party named in the Third-Party Complaint who desires but cannot afford legal representation may be able to obtain assistance from the resources below. DTSC has not had any extensive conversation with either of these institutions. They may or may not be able to assist.
Exide Links
Exide Quick Links
You may find additional information on the Cleanup Sites and Hazardous Waste Permitted Facilities in the EnviroStor database.
- Subscribe to EnviroStor email alert (Permitting)
- Subscribe to EnviroStor email alert (Corrective Action)
Site Mitigation & Restoration Program Links
- Brownfields
- Cleanup in Vulnerable Communities Initiative (CVCI)
- EnviroStor
- Exide
- Human and Ecological Risk Office
- Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Facility Investigation and Cleanup Program
- Loans & Grants
- Land Use Restriction Sites
- Santa Susana Field Laboratory
- School Sites
- Sea Level Rise
- State Superfund Program
- Strategic Plan and Program Enhancement Work Plan
- Vapor Intrusion
- Contact Information
Site Mitigation & Restoration Program Related Links
Exide Home > Cost Recovery Litigation
Exide Residential Cleanup Health and Safety
DTSC Litigation to Recover Cleanup Costs and to Secure Future Cleanup
In December 2020, DTSC filed a lawsuit in federal court against three former operators/owners of the Exide facility, and seven arrangers and transporters that sent hazardous material to the facility. The lawsuit seeks to reimburse the State for costs that DTSC has incurred, and will continue to incur, to investigate and clean up the site and surrounding area from contamination. Due to its size and complexity, the litigation is broken up into phases.
March 2023 Update
Phase 2 Trial
The second major phase of DTSC’s cost recovery litigation will occur in May 2023, with a trial starting on Tuesday, May 30th at 9:00 a.m. at the U.S. District Court (Central District of California). The trial will be in-person and open to the public.
- Trial location: First Street Courthouse, 350 W. 1st Street, Courtroom 10A, 10th Floor, Los Angeles, California 90012
- Judge: Honorable Stephen V. Wilson
- Covid protocol: Please see coronavirus guidance on the court’s website
- Trial topic: DTSC’s cost recovery for lead contamination at the Vernon Plant and within 1/2 mile of the Vernon Plant
- Trial length: Unknown (potentially up to a week or more)
Note: This trial does not include any of the third parties that were added to the litigation by defendant NL Industries (see August 2021 update, below).
For questions regarding the courthouse, please go to the court’s website.
November 2022 Update
After the May 2022 trial, Judge Wilson issued a decision in October.
- The Court found that the scientific evidence was insufficient to establish that lead from the Vernon Plant could have plausibly caused contamination throughout the residential Preliminary Investigation Area (PIA). Thus, the Defendants were not held liable for costs of the cleanup in the residential portion of the PIA.
- The Court held that DTSC can potentially recover costs for lead contamination within 1/2 mile of the Vernon Plant.
May 2022 Update
Phase 1 Trial
DTSC’s cost recovery litigation against Defendants has been ongoing since December 2020. The first major phase of the litigation occurred in May 2022, with a trial to determine the scope of the compensable cleanup area.
August 2021 Update
In December 2020, DTSC filed a Complaint against three former operators/owners of the Exide facility, and seven arrangers and transporters that sent material to the facility. A copy of the Complaint, and information about it, can be found in DTSC’s news release: California Sues Former Owners and Operators of Exide’s Vernon Site.
In August 2021, Defendant NL Industries filed a Third-Party Complaint against:
- Five nearby industrial facility owners,
- Nine local governments that own property in the Preliminary Investigation Area (PIA), and
- Fifty entities that own properties (some already cleaned up, some others not yet cleaned up) in the PIA.
Documents filed in court in response to the Third-Party Complaint include (list below is not all inclusive):
- Extension of time for City of Los Angeles to respond to the Third-Party Complaint and request for Court to approve the extension.
- Extension of time for County of Los Angeles to respond to the Third-Party Complaint and request for Court to approve the extension.
- Dismissal of Champery Rental REO LLC (one of the fifty entities named in the Third-Party Complaint)
- Order Granting Joint Motion to Stay Third-Party Deadlines
Contact information for the NL Industries attorney who signed the Third-Party Complaint, the above Dismissal, and the above Stipulation, is listed on the first page of the Third-Party Complaint.
Any party named in the Third-Party Complaint who desires but cannot afford legal representation may be able to obtain assistance from the resources below. DTSC has not had any extensive conversation with either of these institutions. They may or may not be able to assist.
Exide Links
Exide Quick Links
You may find additional information on the Cleanup Sites and Hazardous Waste Permitted Facilities in the EnviroStor database.
- Subscribe to EnviroStor email alert (Permitting)
- Subscribe to EnviroStor email alert (Corrective Action)
Site Mitigation & Restoration Program Links
- Brownfields
- Cleanup in Vulnerable Communities Initiative (CVCI)
- EnviroStor
- Exide
- Human and Ecological Risk Office
- Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Facility Investigation and Cleanup Program
- Loans & Grants
- Land Use Restriction Sites
- Santa Susana Field Laboratory
- School Sites
- Sea Level Rise
- State Superfund Program
- Strategic Plan and Program Enhancement Work Plan
- Vapor Intrusion
- Contact Information