Huntington Park : Residents Protest, but Plans for Chemical Plant Proceed
More than 500 members of the United Neighborhoods Organization and Southeast area residents attended a meeting at a Huntington Park church Monday night to demand that Chem-Clear Inc. drop its plan to build a hazardous waste treatment plant in neighboring Vernon.
But Chem-Clear’s regional general manager, Martin L. Smith, said his firm refuses to scrap its plan to build the treatment facility in an abandoned factory at Slauson and Boyle avenues in heavily industrialized Vernon. It would be too expensive to relocate, he said.
UNO senior leader Lou Negrete said the firm had no business building the plant just north of Huntington Park’s northern border, within 1,000 feet of Huntington Park High School.
A study commissioned by Chem-Clear indicated that the plant could operate safely, but it also noted that fires or spills were a possibility. The study said the plant would emit minute amounts of toxic chemicals, but that those emissions are not projected to pose a significant health risk.
UNO officials said they would seek to meet with higher level officials from Chem-Clear, a subsidiary of Union Pacific Corp.
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