Exide Late to Exit Battery Recycling Plant

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ed24 DEREK WU
Staff Writer

Over a decade ago in Vernon, California, Exide Technologies opened a battery recycling plant to recycle lead found in batteries. According to the Exide Technologies company website, they recycle 99 percent of all lead received at their recycling plants and they currently have three battery recycling plants in the U.S. According to the Los Angeles Times, government officials investigated and found batteries being disposed inappropriately, which makes it clear that the recycling plant in Vernon is not environment friendly.

Federal officials discovered illegal storage and transportation of hazardous waste inside the recycling plant. During a 2013 inspection, trucks of plastic waste were found parked in the staging area of the plant with puddles of liquid underneath. It can be speculated that those puddles had high levels of lead. The plant was then officially shut down after over a decade of pollution, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Lead often has a negative effect on the health of children and adults. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, young children who are exposed to lead have a high chance of brain damage, developmental delays and even death. People are commonly infected by lead poisoning through long-term lead exposure, which is why the plant should have been closed years ago before more lead could leak into the surrounding environment and cause more damage. Without proper disposal, lead leaks harm local soil as well as people. County officials have also taken the responsibility to replace soil that has been contaminated by lead in several neighborhoods surrounding the plant.

After years of harm to its surroundings, the Exide plant finally closes. However, hopefully in the future we can learn how to prevent such events from happening again. Lead poisoning is not only a current thing, it can also affect the lives of many people in the future as well, which is why we should be more careful when disposing hazardous materials such as lead.