• April 25, 2013
• By Kerri Jansen

California environmental officials ordered an automobile battery recycler to cease operations after an investigation found it was leaking toxic metals into the soil.

The state Department of Toxic Substances Control said Exide Technologies, located south of Los Angeles in the city of Vernon, Calif., was discharging hazardous sludge into leaking underground pipes, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The company, which recycles 22 million lead acid batteries each year, had been operating under a temporary permit since 1981. It had been previously cited for improper storage of hazardous materials as well as air emissions violations, according to the article.

"We made a decision this poses an imminent danger to public health and we took the step of suspending Exide's operations," said Debbie Raphael, director of the DTSC said in the article.

The company was fined $103,200 and will remain closed until it can meet compliance standards, the article indicates.

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