Simi Valley residents up in arms as rotting Boyle Heights warehouse fire food dumped nearby

Residents of a California community are raising a stink over truckloads of rotting food being dumped at a nearby landfill after a massive warehouse fire left millions of pounds of meat and produce spoiling.

People in Simi Valley’s Big Sky neighborhood say a foul odor has lingered for weeks as spoiled food from the fire-ravaged Lineage Logistics facility in Los Angeles’ Boyle Heights was hauled to the area for disposal, according to ABC7.

Residents said the stench is especially noticeable when afternoon sundowner winds sweep through the neighborhood, while some have also reported an increase in flies.

“It’s really bad. I smell like a fish or something dead … It’s at a point that we are even thinking, like, should we live here?” Big Sky resident Pradepa Nachimuthu told the outlet.

Residents began lodging complaints with the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District in recent days, prompting the agency to issue a notice of violation requiring the landfill to address the problem. The district said it is continuing to monitor conditions and respond to additional complaints.

Meanwhile, the general manager of the Big Sky homeowners association said Friday that residents contacted him about the odor and were directed to the air pollution agency.

The spoiled food originated roughly 50 miles away at Lineage’s six-story cold-storage warehouse in Boyle Heights, where a massive fire broke out June 17 and destroyed refrigeration.

Lineage was holding an estimated 85 million pounds of beef, chicken, seafood and other food when the blaze erupted and burned for more than a week, according to the Daily Mail.

Hundreds of workers and contractors have been involved in the sprawling cleanup, which Lineage has estimated will cost about $100 million.

The fire was extinguished June 24, but the spoiled food left behind created another problem for surrounding communities as residents complained of persistent odors, flies and other pests.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has since issued more than 30 citations over the conditions, including decaying organic waste and fly activity, per the Daily Mail.

South Coast Air Quality Management District said Saturday that crews had completed the bulk removal of spoiled food from the Boyle Heights warehouse, marking a major phase of the cleanup.

The company now has seven days to complete the remaining work under an abatement order. This includes removing debris, power-washing, cleaning and disinfecting the facility.

They expect odors to continue diminishing as the work progresses.

Authorities are still investigating what sparked the June fire. Lineage believes it may have started while contractors working on a rooftop solar array were conducting tests. Altus Power, which owns the solar installation, has disputed that conclusion and said the cause has not yet been determined.

Investigations by the Los Angeles Fire Department and Department of Building and Safety remain ongoing.

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