Salvador Hernandez

Los Angeles Times

(TNS)

Investigators with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control searched the offices of the Lineage cold storage warehouse in Boyle Heights that burned down this summer as part of a criminal probe on Tuesday, authorities said.

The agency's officers were seen speaking with Lineage employees and going through the warehouse offices while members of the Los Angeles County district attorney's office stood outside the door, securing the scene.

The Department of Toxic Substances Control is tasked with enforcing laws and regulations governing hazardous waste and hazardous substances, according to the agency's website. Its Criminal Investigations Unit is staffed with sworn police officers and investigators who work with environmental scientists. Agency officials declined to say what they were searching for Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Lineage declined to comment on the search. In a statement, the company said it does not store hazardous materials or chemicals in the facility.

"We store food," the company said in a statement. "Further, the facility's ammonia refrigeration system was safely pumped out shortly after the fire began and before the fire reached the refrigeration system. The ammonia was subsequently removed from the site."

The Lineage cold storage warehouse was the site of a massive fire that started June 17 and took about a week to put out.

The battle to extinguish the blaze was hampered by several factors, including solar panels on the roof that would not initially de-energize, preventing access to firefighters; 50-foot-high stacks of frozen goods inside the building that posed a safety risk, preventing people from going inside; and what was believed to be an ammonia gas leak that triggered a shelter-in-place order for surrounding buildings.

Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Jaime Moore would later say there was no ammonia leak but that the vapor that had initially caused concern had been cold air mixing with hot air. An LAFD report into the fire also stated no ammonia had been detected.

Once the fire was extinguished, Lineage was tasked with removing the 89 million pounds of meat and food stored inside as fast as possible before it spoiled in the scorching summer heat. It took the company more than six weeks to clear the site, during which residents complained about a surge of rats, flies and sickness.

The cause of the fire was not determined, but LAFD investigators could not rule out the solar panels on the roof.

In the statement, Lineage officials said environmental monitoring after the fire had consistently shown normal levels for the surrounding neighborhood, and that the company has detected "no ammonia concentrations above health-based action levels."

"We have shared relevant testing and monitoring information on our website and with regulatory agencies," the statement read. "Our industry is regulated by dozens of agencies, and we regularly work with them collaboratively and transparently."

City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, who represents the area, said in a statement that she welcomed the investigation.

"Residents deserve to know what happened, what risks remain, and who must be held accountable," Jurado said in a statement. "I welcome this investigation as a positive step toward the transparency and answers Boyle Heights residents deserve. This community has lived with the consequences of the Lineage warehouse fire for months."

Martín Ramírez, who owns a car shop next to the warehouse, said when he initially arrived for work Tuesday morning, the warehouse was filled with busy workers as usual, cleaning and operating heavy machinery. Then suddenly, when he took a look at the building a few minutes later, it was empty, having been cleared after investigators arrived with the search warrant.

"The residents of Boyle Heights and East L.A. deserve environmental justice and corporate accountability," Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement.

Bass added that her emergency executive order into the incident called on the California Department of Toxic Substances Control to investigate and pursue enforcement action if warranted.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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