State Board Halts Phibro-Tech’s LA-area Toxic Waste Facility Expansion
Victory
—California Board of Environmental Safety allowed a permit appeal, accepting all issues raised by local community group
Contacts
Alejandro Dávila Fragoso, adavila@earthjustice.org
The California Board of Environmental Safety gave the go-ahead to a community group’s appeal challenging the permit renewal and expansion of Phibro-Tech, a hazardous waste facility that operates near homes and schools in Los Nietos, southeast of Los Angeles. In doing so, the Board halted an expansion that would have doubled Phibro-Tech’s hazardous waste intake.
The Board’s April 27 decision stems from an Earthjustice appeal filed on behalf of Neighbors Against Phibro-Tech. A final ruling is expected at a public hearing on October 21-22.
“This is the right decision for our kids, for our families, for every neighbor who spent years demanding to be heard,” said Jaime Sanchez, member of Neighbors Against Phibro-Tech. “A safe neighborhood free of toxic chemical facilities shouldn’t be a privilege, and today this board recognized that.”
Phibro-Tech, which treats and disposes of toxic waste from the electronics and aerospace industries, has one of the worst violation records in its industry in California. Regulators have documented lead, arsenic, and hexavalent chromium in the surrounding soil and groundwater, cancer-causing chemicals that can permanently harm children’s development. The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) renewed Phibro-Tech’s permit in February 2025. Before 2025, Phibro-Tech had been operating on a permit that expired in 1996.
“No facility with a record like Phibro-Tech’s should have been handed a permit, let alone an expansion,” said Byron Chan, Earthjustice attorney. “This decision is a step in the right direction.”
Community members and advocates have said for years that DTSC’s permitting process is riddled with failures. In its appeal, Neighbors Against Phibro-Tech argues that DTSC granted the new permit without evaluating its sordid compliance history and its cumulative impacts on surrounding homes and schools. The appeal also alleges that DTSC accepted Phibro-Tech’s incomplete health risk assessment, which neglected to test the community for contamination.
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