One of California’s two lead battery recyclers, Quemetco, is seeking to expand its production by 25 percent while the state’s second such company, Exide Technologies, attempts to reopen, Southern California Public Radio reports.
Only two lead battery recyclers have been operating west of the Mississippi in recent years, according to SCPR.
Exide Technologies’ facility, in the city of Vernon, has been shuttered since March. The EPA says the facility has violated the Clean Air Act’s lead emissions standards on more than 30 occasions.
The company is working to make upgrades to prevent air pollution from lead and arsenic. In January the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) confirmed Exide had reduced arsenic emissions 95 percent at the Vernon facility.
Quemetco has also been cited for air violations — five times in the last nine years — SCPR says.