Residents urge relocations, clearer testing and accountability at Board hearing on East LA spill

During the public comment period on item 15A, more than two dozen residents, community groups and school representatives described continuing health and economic impacts from the May 22 pipeline rupture and related warehouse fire responses.

Vanessa Gonzalez (Tierralibre/Fia Gomiso) praised the convening and called for "remediation and transparency," urging the county to centralize information on a single portal because it is currently "confusing to navigate all the websites out there." Diego Rodriguez of Alma Family Services thanked the board for field presence and said the organization had partnered with the 1st District in field outreach during the initial incident.

Several speakers described ongoing physical symptoms. High‑school student Raymond Poom told the board, "We all woke up and smelled a pungent smell... many students felt nauseous, headaches, and sick, and none of those students were evacuated." Multiple residents said door‑to‑door notifications and multilingual outreach have been inadequate and that county test‑and‑relocation lines (including 2‑1‑1) had not produced timely help for households with medically vulnerable members.

Community groups called for immediate town halls in East Los Angeles, transparent timelines for the county’s remediation milestones, and rapid postings in Spanish and other preferred languages. Speakers also urged the board to hold the responsible private parties accountable and to make information on business claims and compensation more accessible.

Board members responded by repeating commitments from departments to post unified materials on the LA Recovery site and to coordinate outreach; they also asked staff to schedule community meetings and to update the board and the public as soon as the mitigation analysis is available.