(Sacramento) – At a state capitol news conference Assembly Speaker-elect Anthony Rendon (D-Paramount) stood with Assemblymember Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) and Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis to call on Exide and the state Department of Toxic Substance Control to act swiftly to restore the safety and quality of life for thousands of residents affected by toxic contamination from the Exide battery plan in Vernon. “Exide has polluted our communities for decades, spewing lead, arsenic, benzene and other poisonous chemicals from its facility in Vernon. It has contaminated our air, our soil and our communities,” said Assemblymember Rendon. Speaker-elect Rendon also praised Assemblymember Luis Alejo (D-Salinas) for holding hearings into the massive contamination problem.