"California officials have talked tough about the contamination of up to 10,000 homes with lead from a battery recycling plant, calling it a regulatory failure, an environmental injustice and a public health disaster.

Yet accountability for years of pollution by Exide Technologies has been scant.

The company struck a deal with federal prosecutors last year allowing it to close down and avoid criminal charges for years of admitted felonies. But to the dismay of community groups in southeast Los Angeles County, almost nothing has been done to hold government employees accountable for allowing the plant to operate illegally for decades."

Tony Barboza reports for the Los Angeles Times May 28, 2016. [2]