Trump's EPA Impact on Superfund: Toxic Stakes and Controversies

For decades, Exide Technologies polluted Los Angeles with toxic chemicals, affecting thousands. The bankruptcy of Exide and Trump's return to presidency cast uncertainty on cleanup efforts, despite a $770 million allocation by California. Calls to designate Exide as a Superfund site intensify amidst fears of deregulation and reduced EPA funding complicating future efforts.

Just a short distance from Patricia Flores' longtime residence, the community grapples with the toxic legacy left by a century-long operation of the Exide Technologies battery smelter plant in southeast Los Angeles. The plant's emissions heavily contaminated surrounding properties with lead and leached trichloroethylene (TCE) into the local groundwater—a perilous carcinogen.

In light of Exide's 2020 bankruptcy filing, California earmarked over $770 million towards land remediation. Yet, with Donald Trump's re-emergence in the White House, strategies for cleanup face considerable uncertainty. Flores and fellow residents, along with environmental advocates and legislative figures, are pushing for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deem Exide a Superfund site, thus unlocking essential federal funding for long-term remediation.

The historical bipartisan backing of the Superfund program now faces potential alterations under Trump's administration. Elimination of specific regulations and staff reductions within the EPA threaten to impede cleanup operations federally, posing substantial challenges for state-managed remediations, especially in economically constrained regions.

(With inputs from agencies.)