Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Environmental Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City Council Reasserts Oversight of Clean Harbors Waste Contract After Wilmington Compliance Concerns
Summary
The Los Angeles City Council voted to exercise jurisdiction under Chapter 2.45 over a Clean Harbors matter after members raised past compliance and litigation concerns about a Wilmington site; the motion passed and the matter was remitted for immediate follow-up.
The Los Angeles City Council voted to exercise its jurisdiction under Chapter 2.45 over a matter involving Clean Harbors (referred to in the meeting as “puertos limpios”), citing past compliance concerns tied to a Wilmington facility. The motion passed with the required votes and the council remitted the matter for immediate follow-up.
Council members said the action was driven by documents and community complaints about a Wilmington site and an active litigation record dating to 2021. Councilmember Bloomenfield urged the council to take up the matter, saying she wanted the council to “review the decision of this commission.” Councilmember McOsker said she had received constituent calls raising concern about a federal case and alleged safety and permitting violations at a Wilmington site.
The council also heard from Captain Jones of the Los Angeles Fire Department, who responded to members’ questions about continuity of hazardous-waste collection services. Captain Jones said the department was actively seeking alternatives and consulting the City Attorney’s Office: “En este momento no” (referring to any immediate suspension of collection) and explained staff were “actively identifying a solution.”
Why this matters: council members said the Wilmington allegations — described during the meeting as a 2021-origin federal litigation alleging improper handling and combining of hazardous wastes at a city-area site — raised public-health and neighborhood-quality-of-life concerns. Councilmembers said they could not accept what one described as repeated compliance failures near residential and recreational spaces.
The motion to exercise jurisdiction was framed as a council oversight step to review a commission decision and to ensure hazardous-waste handling in the city meets legal and safety requirements. Following the vote, council staff were tasked to identify alternate vendors or interim arrangements so hazardous materials collection would continue without interruption.
Quotes reflecting the record: Councilmember McOsker said she had been told by the department that no recent incidents existed, but after reviewing court filings she believed otherwise and said, in Spanish, “Una y otra vez, sigue pasando,” referring to repeated problems at the Wilmington site. Captain Jones said staff were working with the City Attorney’s Office “to identify another agency” and to “find an alternative” for continued hazardous-materials collection.
Next steps: the council’s action remitted the matter immediately for follow-up, and staff were directed to report back with alternatives to ensure uninterrupted collection and to provide documentation of any compliance or enforcement actions connected to the Wilmington site.
