Lineage touts 101.8% cleanup completion, but there still may be food waste inside

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Lineage says it has removed 101.8% of the food waste from its fire-ravaged Boyle Heights warehouse.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says there’s still rotting food inside.

City personnel entered the facility Thursday and spotted remaining food waste, Bass said.

Inspectors are expected back Friday.

“We cannot take them at their word,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said.

The head-scratching cleanup claim comes after Lineage already blew past the city’s deadline to remove an estimated 88 million pounds of food left inside the warehouse following the stubborn June 17 fire.

“Lineage missed the August 14 deadline, they moved the goal post, and then they failed again,” Bass said.

Lineage disputes that timeline, saying its deadline under South Coast Air Quality Management District orders was Aug. 20 because the Los Angeles Fire Department did not hand over the building until July 7.

And now the company is saying it has gone beyond 100% of the job.

In a Thursday community update, Lineage said it had removed 101.8% of the bulk food waste from Freezer 1, the portion of the warehouse that was not burned.

The company calculated the figure by weighing everything removed since the cleanup began July 7. 

With the original estimate pegged at 88 million pounds, Lineage says more than 88 million pounds have now been hauled away.

There’s a wrinkle, though: That total can include debris, water and other material.

And Lineage acknowledges that food could still be inside.

The company says it expects to finish removing the remaining material in the coming days before moving further into the next phase of the cleanup.

That phase includes removing loose debris, power washing, disinfecting, detailing and deodorizing the facility.

Lineage expects that work to be completed by Aug. 27.

The freezer that took the brunt of the June 17 blaze has been cleared, with much of the structure demolished.

Crews have spent the past several weeks removing rotting food from the remaining freezer.

As of Tuesday, Lineage said 97% of the food had been removed. 

The city’s original Aug. 14 deadline came from executive directives Bass issued June 29, which required the complete bulk food removal within 45 days.

After Lineage missed it, Bass said she was preparing to ask city lawyers to pursue civil litigation and other legal options, including cost recovery and penalties.

Meanwhile, Boyle Heights residents are dealing with the fallout from the fire.

A new St. John’s Community Health study found respiratory infections, eye disorders and persistent coughing among hundreds of residents treated at mobile clinics during roughly six weeks after the blaze began.

The study reviewed symptoms and diagnoses involving 1,306 patients and said the problems were “directly related to toxic exposure and smoke inhalation.”

The findings have raised fresh questions about the fire’s potential long-term effects on people living in the community.