Vernon vs. Exide: The Fight For Justice

How can supposedly green initiatives, such as battery recycling, still result in dirty outcomes?
Community members in Vernon, California, fight to shut down a local battery recycling plant
because its toxic waste is polluting their air, water, and soil. The company and governmental
agencies that are supposed to be responsible fail to listen and act, forcing the community to take
ever more dramatic action. This episode examines their fight for environmental justice and
highlights the distinction between policy-driven environmentalism and the real-world
consequences that disproportionately harm minority communities.

Episode Authors
Samuel Desai, Alice Heiman, Ian Briski

Interviews:
Rossmery Zayas
Community organizing since the age of 14, Rossmery Zayas is now a South East Los Angeles
(SELA) Youth Organizer at Communities for a Better Environment (CBE). She works extensively
in grassroots activism, and has participated in several campaigns, including shutting down the
toxic battery recycling plant facility owned by Exide Technologies (one of the world’s largest
producers and distributors of batteries) in Vernon, California. Rossmery Zayas majored in
Communication Studies and studied at Humboldt State University, East Los Angeles College, and
Cal State LA.
Organization link: https://www.cbecal.org/
Dr. Jenna Forsyth
Dr. Jenna Forsyth is a research scientist affiliated with the School of Medicine, Woods Institute
for Environment, and King Center for Global Development at Stanford University. Dr. Forsyth’s
work addresses the global environmental health problems stemming from contaminants in air,
water, soil, and food. Her recent work revolves around lead pollution in South Asia, where she
championed getting lead out of turmeric in Bangladesh.
Website link: https://jennaforsyth.com/
Mari Rose Taruc
Mari Rose Taruc is a Filipino-American artist and activist in Oakland, CA. She has been advancing
local, state, national, and international environmental justice campaigns for clean air, affordable
housing, renewable energy, and climate solutions for over 28 years. Before her role at California
Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA), she held various environmental justice roles at the
Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice (SNEEJ) and Asian Pacific
Environmental Network. Inspired by Hurricane Katrina, she founded a neighborhood group in
Oakland, where she has lived for over two decades, to fight gentrification, promote affordable
housing, redefine community safety, and actively engage in elections.
Website link: https://environmental-professionals-of-color.yale.edu/person/taruc-mari-rose

 

 

References and Further Reading
● Barboza, T. (2015, December 21). Story So Far: How a battery recycler contaminated L.A.-
area homes for decades. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-
exide-cleanup-story-so-far-20151121-story.html
● Barboza, T. (2020, October 16). Court approves abandonment of Exide plant and toxic
cleanup. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-10-
16/exide-bankrtuptcy-decision-vernon-cleanup
● Briscoe, T. (2024, July 11). Exide site on the verge of getting Superfund designation. Los
Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-07-11/la-county-
battery-recycler-on-the-verge-of-becoming-california-next-superfund-site
● CA.gov. (2016, November 4). Governor Brown Issues Statement on Paris Climate
Agreement Milestone | Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. Retrieved March 1, 2025 from
https://archive.gov.ca.gov/archive/gov39/2016/11/04/news19592/index.html
● California Department of Toxic Substances Control. (October, 2020) The State’s Poor
Management of the Exide Cleanup Project Has Left Californians at Continued Risk of
Lead Poisoning. https://information.auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2020-107.pdf
● CDC. (2024, October 31). Exide Contamination Information and Resources. Community
Stress Resource Center. Retrieved March 1, 2025 from
https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/community-stress-resource-center/php/resources/exide-
contamination.html
● Communities for a Better Environment. (2021). Exide Technologies. cbecal.org. Retrieved
March 1, 2025 https://www.cbecal.org/organizing/southern-california/exide/
● DTSC.gov. Exide Residential Cleanup. Department of Toxic Substances Control.
Retrieved March 1, 2025 from https://dtsc.ca.gov/residential-cleanup/
● EPA.gov (2024, September 4). EPA Proposes to Add Exide Technologies – Vernon Site to
Superfund National Priorities List. Retrieved March 1, 2025 from
https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-proposes-add-exide-technologies-vernon-site-
superfund-national-priorities-list
● Exide: A Local Red Line. (2015, December 27). Rossmery’s Blog: My Thoughts Are My
Own. Retrieved March 1, 2025 from https://rossmeryzayas.wordpress.com/exide-
technologies/
● Justice.gov. (2015, June 23) Exide Technologies Admits Role In Major Hazardous Waste
Case And Agrees To Permanently Close Battery Recycling Facility In Vernon. Retrieved
March 1, 2025 https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/exide-technologies-admits-role-
major-hazardous-waste-case-and-agrees-permanently-close
● Johnston, J. E., & Hricko, A. (2017). Industrial Lead Poisoning in Los Angeles: Anatomy of a
Public Health Failure. Environmental Justice, 10(5), 162–167.
https://doi.org/10.1089/env.2017.0019
● Johnston, J. E., Lopez, mark, Gribble, M. O., Gutschow, W., Austin, C., & Arora, M. (2019). A
Collaborative Approach to Assess Legacy Pollution in Communities Near a Lead–Acid
Battery Smelter: The “Truth Fairy” Project. Health Education & Behavior, 46(1_suppl),
71S80S. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198119859406
● Osgood, Brian. (2021, March 29). “I felt I killed my children”: lead poisons California
community – and fills kids’ teeth. The Guardian; The Guardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/29/i-felt-i-killed-my-children-lead-
poisons-california-community-and-fills-kids-teeth
● Pearce, F. (2020b, November 2). Getting the lead out: Why battery recycling is a global
health hazard. Yale E360. https://e360.yale.edu/features/getting-the-lead-out-why-
battery-recycling-is-a-global-health-hazard
● Peterson, M. (2015, November 19). City of Industry battery recycler ordered to test for
lead pollution. LAist. Retrieved March 1, 2025 from https://laist.com/news/kpcc-
archive/second-la-area-battery-recycler-ordered-to-test-fo
● Rossmery’s Blog: My Thoughts Are My Own. (2020). Rossmery’s Blog: My Thoughts Are
My Own. Retrieved March 1, 2025 from https://rossmeryzayas.wordpress.com/.
● Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Coorperation (SEC). (April, 2013).
Hazardous Trade? An Examination of US-generated Spent Lead-acid Battery Exports and
Secondary Lead Recycling in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Retrieved from

https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/ToxicWaste/RightToInform
ation/OccupationalKnowledgeInternational1.pdf
● Wani, A. L., Ara, A., & Usmani, J. A. (2015). Lead toxicity: a review. Interdisciplinary
Toxicology, 8(2), 55–64. https://doi.org/10.1515/intox-2015-0009
● WHO. (2022, October 23). Almost 1 million people die every year due to lead poisoning,
with more children suffering long-term health effects. WHO.int; World Health
Organization. Retrieved March 1, 2025 from https://www.who.int/news/item/23-10-2022-
almost-1-million-people-die-every-year-due-to-lead-poisoning--with-more-children-
suffering-long-term-health-effects
● WHO. (2024, September 27). Lead poisoning. WHO.int; World Health Organization.
Retrieved March 1, 2025 from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-
poisoning-and-health
● Zhang, W., Yang, J., Wu, X., Hu, Y., Yu, W., Wang, J., Dong, J., Li, M., Liang, S., Hu, J., & Kumar,
R. V. (2016). A critical review on secondary lead recycling technology and its prospect.
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 61, 108–122.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.03.046
Music & Sound Effect Acknowledgements
Apollo Diedre by Glass Obelisk – https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/053f9cb5-6de4-
4ad5-b19b-fe95a9dea2d8
Bauxite by Little Rock – https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/0913ed0f-a4e5-40b0-a5f4-
d3c5c9a710a1
Dusting by Confectionery – https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/f4c234dc-fe87-4f11-97db-
5a2fa46e0bd9
Careless Morning by Glacier Quartet - Araby –
https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/1c0df374-b3b6-493c-b93d-ff3fa4a4f4c6
Tin Cavalry by Grey Acres – http://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/90ee05fd-ef4b-4b33-
a590-5dfd2a8d5008
Taoudella by Azalai – https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/001d2cf8-739c-41e2-adaf-
f754d7760c5a
Within the Garden Walls by Muridae – https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/09f1e1b7-
553b-46d2-b33e-2c6a2c815276
Palms Down by Confectionery – https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/0a04abf4-66d2-404c-
812c-38ea756030ed
Vernouillet by The Sweet Hots – https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/0dc44a1a-14fd-4326-
9a20-991eb1ed50e1
Spunker by Sticker Sheet – https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/06e7395e-9df5-49d3-
b357-a00aacac44f5
Silurian by Mortem Obire – https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/ef16d39b-8b96-47a2-
8966-af41c151d334
Teenage Crowd by BBC Sound Effects – https://sound-
effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=07047053
Applause by BBC Sound Effect – https://sound-effects.bbcrewind.co.uk/search?q=07073016
Boxing Bell Sound FX by Ryan Lloyd, Youtube –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvvTacquttk
Airplane Aircraft Takeoff by Cryptowista, Pixabay – https://pixabay.com/sound-
effects/airplane-aircraft-take-off-121949/

 

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