HUNTINGTON PARK : More Study Set on Recycling Operation

After six hours of emotional testimony, the City Council last week tabled a decision on whether to allow a recycling plant to continue operating in light of residents’ complaints that it contaminates the air.

The council won’t rule on Aggregate Recycling Systems’ permit for at least another month pending further study.

A citizens group had appealed the Planning Commission’s decision to grant the permit to Aggregate, which recycles concrete into road base at its South Alameda Boulevard plant. The permit would allow the company to operate for another year.

The council will order an air quality analysis in an effort to determine the source and extent of any air contamination in the area surrounding the facility.

The decision to delay the matter came over the objections of about 150 residents wearing surgical masks and holding small placards reading in Spanish and English, “Let us breath.”

“The council can clearly see that people are upset about this issue, but the fact remains that we need a lot more information before we can make an educated decision,” Mayor Ric Loya said. He added that the cost of the study, to be paid by the city, would not exceed $2,000.

Aggregate owner Sam Chew said he was pleased by the council’s decision.

“No one can say for sure if there is any air contamination or whether it comes from Aggregate,” Chew said.

Chew said that if air contamination violates state standards, the source could be other nearby industrial facilities, or possibly even passing trains.

Other industries near Aggregate along South Alameda Street are the Saroyan Lumber Co. and Commercial Enameling Inc., a company specializing in the enameling of bathroom fixtures.

Both companies have complained to the City Council that Aggregate disrupts their operations. At a Planning Commission meeting last month, attorneys for Commercial Enameling asked that Aggregate’s permit not be renewed on the basis that dust from the recycling facility is potentially damaging to its operations.

Members of Los Angeles Comunidades Asambleadas Unidas para un Sostenable Ambiente (Los Angeles Communities Assembled for a Sustainable Environment), known as LA CAUSA, have complained that Aggregate, which opened one year ago, emits dust and noise into the neighborhood bordering the plant.

“The council is just waiting for someone to get real sick and die,” said Hector Lopez, who lives across the street from Aggregate with his wife and three children.

“I don’t care what they say; the dust in the air has been getting worse and worse, and there isn’t an end in sight,” Lopez said.

Residents emerged from the meeting both dissatisfied and encouraged, said Carlos Porras, who has helped organize residents on behalf of the Los Angeles-based Citizens for a Better Environment.

“The council’s decision to study the whole thing further can only benefit us,” Porras said. He cited an October study of the air surrounding Aggregate conducted by Air Quality Dynamics on behalf of LA CAUSA. The study found that dust emissions around Aggregate, for both the 24-hour average and annual average, exceeded state standards approximately 79% of the time, or 289 days of the year.