Rendon Calls For Additional Actions To Help Clean Paramount Air
SACRAMENTO — In testimony submitted to two separate agencies yesterday, Assemblymember Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) called for additional actions to be taken by the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the Paramount City Council to respond to the high levels of Chromium 6 that have been found in Paramount.
“As both a representative and a resident of Paramount, I am dismayed that our community has become the latest example of people being exposed to dangerous toxic chemicals,” Rendon wrote. “Especially because, once again, a company is breaking the rules and regulations are insufficiently protective of public health. This is a vicious cycle that has played out too many times in Southeast Los Angeles County.”
In testimony presented to the independent hearing board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, Rendon urged the board to put an immediate stop to the excessive Chromium 6 emissions coming from Anaplex Corporation, a metal processing plant in Paramount.
“On behalf of the people I represent, I respectfully ask the Hearing Board to approve the agreement reached last Thursday so that the community and the facility’s workers do not have to wait any longer for protections offered by the order,” Rendon wrote.
Rendon also asked the Hearing Board to require Anaplex to take any additional actions necessary to immediately address the chromium 6 pollution found on the roof and to stop all chromium 6 emitting operations until permit violations are resolved.
Tuesday afternoon the Hearing Board ruled that Anaplex will be shut down unless they obtain proper permits for all equipment with the potential to emit hexavalent chromium above a certain level. Anaplex will be required to provide SCAQMD proof of permits and hexavalent chromium reductions on January 20, 2017.
“We don’t want any more Exides where repeated violations are allowed to go unanswered for years, especially with the public health dangers posed by cumulative exposure to toxic chemicals,” Rendon wrote. “The toughest regulations in the world don’t matter if they are not aggressively enforced--the Hearing Board helped ensure those regulations are enforced.”
In testimony prepared for the Paramount City Council Tuesday evening, Rendon praised the council for their proactive approach in purchasing additional air monitors, but warned there were other steps that must be taken as well.
“I would hope that the information gathered from these monitors can be used to better inform the land use decisions that come before the Council,” Rendon wrote. “Additionally, it would be worth examining how the cost of monitoring can be borne by the businesses that produce emissions and not by the taxpayers.”
Rendon also encouraged the city to be engaged in the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s latest rule making regarding metal forges, Rule 1430, saying, “The Council should be asking for the most protective regulations considering the concentration of metal working facilities in the city – including larger buffer zones for schools. Additionally the city should be impressing on the district that Rule 1430 is only acceptable as the first step in looking at emissions from a wider universe of metal working facilities.”
Rendon represents the 63rd Assembly District, which includes the cities and communities of Bell, Cudahy, Hawaiian Gardens, Lakewood, North Long Beach, Lynwood, Maywood, Paramount, and South Gate.
CONTACT: Kevin Liao, (916) 319-2063
Website of Assemblymember Anthony Rendon: www.asmdc.org/rendon