As air quality regulators press for legal action against the operator of a cold storage warehouse that burned in Boyle Heights, Lineage officials say they expect to spend $80 million to $100 million to clean up the site, which contains millions of pounds of rotting meat and has generated thousands of odor complaints.
Lineage officials released their cost estimate for cleanup hours before they were scheduled to appear before the South Coast Air Quality Management District Hearing Board on Wednesday. Among other actions, the board was set to consider demands for a legal order against Lineage that would compel the company to take dozens of additional steps to mitigate the stench and vermin that have been attracted to the site.
Since Lineage’s 500,000-square-foot warehouse caught fire June 17, the South Coast Air Quality Management District has received more than 4,000 odor complaints and has issued Lineage at least 20 violation notices for public nuisance.
On Wednesday, air district attorneys petitioned the agency’s five-member hearing board to approve more than 80 new requirements related to ongoing remediation. Local regulators are calling for:
- The removal of at least 8.8 million pounds of food waste each week
- Waste to only be loaded through the south loading dock, which is farthest from homes
- The operation of an odor-neutralizing misting system around the warehouse and any openings
- Creating a plan for wastewater collection and storage
- Developing a public notification system to update residents on the cleanup progress and activities that could result in an increase in odors.
More than 100 people filled the auditorium at the air district’s headquarters in Diamond Bar to call on the hearing board to adopt these measures and help alleviate the nauseating smells. Residents from across Southeast Los Angeles County said they have been sickened by the constant odor of rotting food.
Tiff Sanchez, an organizer with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, called the fire’s aftermath “a public health catastrophe.”
“I am here to support the abatement orders and to ask AQMD to strengthen them — not temporarily but permanently,” Sanchez said. “That way, we make sure that Lineage is held accountable … for this disaster that they created.”
An aerial view of workers cleaning up the Lineage Logistics Cold Storage in Boyle Heights on Friday. East L.A. and Boyle Heights residents held a rally in front of the facility demanding that Lineage permanently shut down its facility and leave Boyle Heights after reports the company is unlikely to meet the city-imposed 45-day cleanup deadline.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass delivered remarks via video call to support newly proposed cleanup mandates. Bass acknowledged foul odors and pest infestations continue to plague residents, and noted she was most concerned for Los Angeles students returning to school next week.
“Let’s be clear: what the residents of Boyle Heights are facing is not just a nuisance, but it is a public health crisis that requires urgent and actionable measures. I’ve been on the ground in the community every few days and speaking directly with the residents each week since the fire began. I’ve experienced firsthand the impact that this has had on families and the smells, and I have to admit it’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced,” Bass said.
Since the fire was extinguished, Lineage has been tasked with removing roughly 88 million pounds of spoiled and decomposing food, along with fire and demolition debris. Company officials said they remain “committed to the fastest remediation possible,” estimating that the cleanup was about 80% complete.
Lineage has already deployed odor-control spray systems, industrial air scrubbers, and fly and rodent traps.
Food waste has been hauled to at least four landfills, including Simi Valley Landfill and Recycling Center in Ventura County and El Sobrante Landfill in Riverside County.
South Coast Air Quality Management District board members listen as members of the Boyle heights community speak out against the continuing bad air quality in the aftermath of the Lineage cold storage facility fire on August 5, 2026 in Diamond Bar, CA.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Because of the Lineage fire, Bella Hernandez, a 16-year-old high school senior, told the hearing board that she spent her summer break surveying neighbors about health issues they suspect are related to the smoke and odors. With the situation unresolved, she’s worried about the start of classes.
“Every single person I asked said that they were sick, or that they have been impacted negatively,” Hernandez said. “They tell me about how the chemicals make their eyes and their lungs burn. They tell me about how they can’t go outside and they can’t sleep properly. These symptoms are just the beginning.”
“We deserve clean air and a safe place to live,” she continued. “We aren’t asking Lineage to turn our community into the next Beverly Hills. We’re asking them to stop slowly killing us for an extra buck.”
