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

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Key points

• Lineage disputes that timeline, saying its deadline under South Coast Air Quality Management District orders was Aug.
• In a Thursday community update, Lineage remarked it had removed 101.8% of the bulk food waste from Freezer 1, the portion of the warehouse that was not burned.
• Lineage notes it has removed 101.8% of the food waste from its fire-ravaged Boyle Heights warehouse.
• 14 deadline to remove an estimated 88 million pounds of food left inside the warehouse after the stubborn June 17 fire.
• With the original estimate pegged at 88 million pounds, Lineage notes more than 88 million pounds have now been hauled away.

Meanwhile the firm states it's not done removing all the rotting material inside the burned out facility.

Meanwhile, the head-scratching cleanup claim comes almost two months after a fire destroyed the building and left the area with a horrible stench.

"We cannot take them at their word, " Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass remarked.

City personnel entered the facility Thursday and spotted remaining food waste, Bass remarked. Inspectors are projected back Friday.

Lineage already blew past the city's Aug. 14 deadline to remove an estimated 88 million pounds of food left inside the warehouse after the stubborn June 17 fire.

"Lineage missed the August 14 deadline, they moved the goal post, and then they failed again, " Bass remarked.

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

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

In practice, the firm calculated the figure by weighing everything removed since the cleanup began July 7.

There's a wrinkle, though: That total can include debris, water and other material. And Lineage acknowledges that food could still be inside.

In practice, the firm states it expects to finish removing the remaining material over the next few 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.

In practice, 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 a number of weeks removing rotting food from the remaining freezer. As of Tuesday, Lineage remarked 97% of the food had been removed.

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

After Lineage missed it, Bass remarked 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 discovered respiratory infections, eye disorders and persistent coughing among hundreds of residents treated at mobile clinics during roughly six weeks after the blaze began.

In practice, the study reviewed symptoms and diagnoses involving 1, 306 patients and remarked the difficulties were "directly related to toxic exposure and smoke inhalation."

Meanwhile, the findings have raised fresh questions regarding the fire's potential long-term effects on residents living in the community.

In short, lineage touts 101.8% cleanup completion, but there still may be food waste is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.