#  Battery Blood: How California Health Agencies Failed Exide Workers

     Details    Joe Rubin   ![logo](https://mail.citywatchla.com//templates/ja_teline_v/images/logo.png)         March 22 2018      [  ![](https://mail.citywatchla.com/images/stories/Mar-2018/024j.png)    ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices/15134-battery-blood-how-california-health-agencies-failed-exide-workers)

  [VOICES](https://mail.citywatchla.com/voices)   - [  Previous Article **‘Don’t Trump Our Neighborhoods’ … Picket’s at Party House with Ties to Paul Manafort** ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15135:don-t-trump-our-neighborhoods-picket-s-at-party-house-with-ties-to-paul-manafort&catid=375)
- [  Next Article **Must Read! Why the Subdivision of HCNC North Cannot be Allowed** ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15099:must-read-why-the-subdivision-of-hcnc-north-cannot-be-allowed&catid=375)

  ###### Typography

- [](# "Smaller Font")  ****Smaller** **Small** **Medium** **Big** **Bigger****  [](# "Bigger Font")
- [](# "Previous Font Style")  ****Default** **Helvetica** **Segoe** **Georgia** **Times****  [](# "Next Font Style")

- [ Reading Mode](# "Reading Mode")

> <a class="a2a_button_facebook"></a><a class="a2a_button_twitter"></a><a class="a2a_button_email"></a><a class="a2a_button_print"></a>[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
>
>  [Comments](#disqus_thread)

>
>
>
> VOICES--In 2015 an Exide Technologies plant in Vernon, Calif. that melted down car batteries for their lead was closed to avoid federal criminal prosecution for polluting nearby communities.

 But the damage had already been done. [According to records obtained by Capital &amp; Main,](https://capitalandmain.com/battery-blood-how-california-health-agencies-failed-exide-workers-0321) California health officials were aware of more than 2,300 blood tests taken from the plant’s workers between 1987 and 2014 that revealed alarming blood-lead levels — high enough to cause miscarriages, tremors, mood disorders and heart disease.

 Despite all the evidence, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) failed to take action. Reporter Joe Rubin found that during that period, Exide was fined just once for lead-safety violations, a $280 fine for a "low" level violation that the company got reduced to $150.

The agency is kind of a political football, a battleground between those who see the prime directive as protecting workers and others who are fearful of hurting the bottom line of industry," [Mariano Kramer, a former Los Angeles Cal/OSHA district manager, said of his former employer.](https://capitalandmain.com/battery-blood-how-california-health-agencies-failed-exide-workers-0321)

 Industrial hygiene expert Rania Sabty-Daily was more direct: “It’s a totally dysfunctional system,” she said. “We debate the toughest standards in the country — meanwhile, Cal/OSHA enforces what are among the weakest standards in the nation.”

 Capital &amp; Main’s [year-long investigation](https://capitalandmain.com/battery-blood-how-california-health-agencies-failed-exide-workers-0321) has already led to the introduction of state legislation designed to strengthen protections for workers in California.

(Joe Rubin won an investigative EMMY in 2016 for his reporting on a chemical trial (ABC10) involving the City of Sacramento's drinking water which exposed the public to byproducts linked to cancer and low birth weights. This piece was posted most recently at Capital &amp; Main.) \[\[capitalandmain.com\]\]

  - [  Previous Article **‘Don’t Trump Our Neighborhoods’ … Picket’s at Party House with Ties to Paul Manafort** ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15135:don-t-trump-our-neighborhoods-picket-s-at-party-house-with-ties-to-paul-manafort&catid=375)
- [  Next Article **Must Read! Why the Subdivision of HCNC North Cannot be Allowed** ](https://mail.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15099:must-read-why-the-subdivision-of-hcnc-north-cannot-be-allowed&catid=375)
<div data-id="1" 
	class="eb-inst eb-hide eb-emailform eb-1 eboxContentLocker"
	data-options='{"trigger":"onPageLoad","trigger_selector":"","delay":3000,"early_trigger":true,"scroll_depth":"percentage","scroll_depth_value":80,"firing_frequency":1,"reverse_scroll_close":true,"threshold":0,"close_out_viewport":false,"exit_timer":1000,"idle_time":10000,"close_on_esc":false,"animation_open":"slideInDown","animation_close":"fadeOutDown","animation_duration":400,"disable_page_scroll":true,"test_mode":false,"debug":false,"ga_tracking":true,"ga_tracking_id":"G-P16BQ7X1SW","ga_tracking_event_category":"EngageBox","ga_tracking_event_label":"Box #1 - Global Email Signup Form","auto_focus":false}'
	data-type='popup'
	>

	<button type="button" data-ebox-cmd="close" class="eb-close placement-outside" aria-label="Close">
	<img alt="close popup button" />
	<span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span>
</button>
	<div class="eb-dialog eb-formVer" role="dialog" aria-modal="true" id="dialog1" aria-label="dialog1">
		
		<button type="button" data-ebox-cmd="close" class="eb-close placement-inside" aria-label="Close">
	<img alt="close popup button" />
	<span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span>
</button>	
		<div class="eb-container">
						<div class="eb-content">
				
<form action="https://citywatchla.us2.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=34d69f33624fd058ee9b56516&amp;id=4bfa422f51&amp;f_id=00d6c2e1f0" class="eb" method="post" id="mcform-1" name="mcform-1" target="_blank">
			<div class="eb-form-header"><p><img src="/images/2023/06/be-a-city-watcher.png" alt="be a city watcher" width="350" height="97" loading="lazy" data-path="local-images:/2023/06/be-a-city-watcher.png"></p>
<p>Sign up to receive our special e-news blasts on Monday and Thursday evenings!</p></div>
	
					<div class="eb-field-row">

			
			
			
			<input class="eb-input" type="email" name="EMAIL"  placeholder="Email address"  id="EMAIL" value="" required>

			
		</div>
										
	<div class="eb-footer">
    	<button class="eb-btn" type="submit" name="subscribe" style="background-color:rgba(93, 183, 93, 1);color:rgba(255, 255, 255, 1)">
    		Sign up    	</button>
    </div>
</form>			</div>
		</div>
	</div>	
</div>
<div data-id="3" 
	class="eb-inst eb-hide eb-yesno eb-3 "
	data-options='{"trigger":"onScrollDepth","trigger_selector":"","delay":0,"early_trigger":false,"scroll_depth":"percentage","scroll_depth_value":80,"firing_frequency":2,"reverse_scroll_close":false,"threshold":0,"close_out_viewport":false,"exit_timer":1000,"idle_time":1000,"close_on_esc":false,"animation_open":"fadeInUp","animation_close":"fadeOut","animation_duration":300,"disable_page_scroll":false,"test_mode":false,"debug":false,"ga_tracking":true,"ga_tracking_id":"G-P16BQ7X1SW","ga_tracking_event_category":"EngageBox","ga_tracking_event_label":"Box #3 - Yes \/ No Donation Popup Box","auto_focus":false}'
	data-type='popup'
	>

	<button type="button" data-ebox-cmd="close" class="eb-close placement-outside" aria-label="Close">
	<img alt="close popup button" />
	<span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span>
</button>
	<div class="eb-dialog " role="dialog" aria-modal="true" id="dialog3" aria-label="dialog3">
		
		<button type="button" data-ebox-cmd="close" class="eb-close placement-inside" aria-label="Close">
	<img alt="close popup button" />
	<span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span>
</button>	
		<div class="eb-container">
						<div class="eb-content">
				
<div class="ebox-yes-no">
	<div class="ebox-yn-text">
		
		
		<div class="ebox-yn-headline" style="font-size:22px;color:#888888">
			<p>If you only give once a month, would you consider giving to CityWatch?</p>
<p>Your support fuels our mission to promote and facilitate civic engagement and neighborhood empowerment, and to hold area government and its politicians accountable.</p>
<p>Would you like to help? Even if you can only give $5, it will make a difference.</p>		</div>
			</div>
	
	<div class="ebox-ys-buttons" style="font-size: 16px;">
		
<a
					data-ebox-prevent="0"
		data-ebox-cmd="close"
				target="_self"
		href="https://www.citywatchla.com/donate"
		rel="noopener"
	
	
	
	
	class="ebox-ys-btn"
	style="background-color:#2ec664;color:#ffffff;min-width:100px">
	Yes
	</a>
<a
	
	
			data-ebox-cmd="close"
		href="#"
	
	
	class="ebox-ys-btn"
	style="background-color:#ef2345;color:#ffffff;min-width:100px">
	Not Right Now
	</a>	</div>

	</div>			</div>
		</div>
	</div>	
</div>