"Questions Remain After Exide Deal With Federal Prosecutors"

"Over the last year, federal authorities built what appeared to be a strong criminal case against Exide Technologies, the Vernon battery recycler that has long faced scrutiny for spewing lead and arsenic into neighborhoods in southeast Los Angeles County.

Investigators found environmental crimes spanning two decades and documented the transgressions in hundreds of pages. Among other violations, the company and previous operators had illegally stored lead and caustic battery acid at the 15-acre facility and then dripped hazardous waste all over Southern California roads as they transported it in leaking trailers to an unpermitted facility in Bakersfield.

But instead of charging Georgia-based Exide with crimes that could have landed its executives in jail, the U.S. attorney's office struck a deal. It allowed the company—and firm employees—to escape criminal charges by agreeing to permanently close the Vernon facility, demolish it and clean up the pollution. Exide also had to commit to pay nearly $50 million to clean up the site and surrounding communities while admitting to an array of felony violations."

Tony Barboza reports for the Los Angeles Times March 12, 2015.