Why California sends toxic waste south of the border

The fumes that wafted through the Tecate streets gave people headaches and left children vomiting. Authorities warned the community it was from a chemical leak at a place called Recicladora Temarry de Mexico.

It’s a recycling facility that’s one of the biggest destinations for California’s hazardous waste. Places like Tesla, Sherwin-Williams and Sally Beauty Supplies stores have long shipped flammable, toxic liquids here to be treated. Even California’s own government agencies used Temarry, including paint waste from the state prisons and ink from the agency that prints government forms.

Throughout this year, we’ve been investigating how California’s companies and governments handle toxic waste. In this latest installment, CalMatters reporters Robert Lewis and Wendy Fry dug deep into what happens when the Golden State’s toxic waste crosses international borders, and discovered that Temarry has been dogged by allegations of mishandling waste and covering-up the March 2022 leak. 

Some of the key takeaways: 

• California companies and government agencies have found it easier and far less expensive to avoid the Golden State’s strict environmental regulations by shipping the waste across borders, including to Mexico. 
• Less than two miles across the border from inland San Diego County, Temarry is a startling example of how California exports the risk from its hazardous waste. 
• The local mayor accused the company in public statements of trying to cover up the March 2022 chemical leak.
• In court documents, Temarry’s current owner accused its former president and founder of ordering waste illegally dumped into an open pit and misrepresenting on legal documents the type of waste coming from the U.S. to Mexico.
• The California Department of Toxic Substances Control seems uninterested in getting answers. In fact, the agency has been stonewalling our reporters for months, ignoring a Public Records Act request for nearly nine months. Under law, they’re supposed to respond within 10 days.

One of California’s top hazardous waste regulators acknowledged the state should be making sure its hazardous waste isn’t harming people outside of state lines.

• Katie Butler, the Department of Toxic Substances Control’s hazardous waste management program deputy director: “I think we have a responsibility to make sure our decisions here in the state — they don’t disproportionately impact other vulnerable communities and that may mean vulnerable communities in other countries.” 

Asked if the department is doing that, she was unequivocal: “No.”

Read more from Robert and Wendy about Temarry here. Read the entire toxic waste investigation here. And catch up on a November panel discussion with state officials on the issue.

In the second installment of a series focused on how well the Legislature is representing its many constituents, CalMatters Capitol reporter Sameea Kamal spoke with more than a dozen first-term lawmakers as they look back on their first session — how successful they were at passing legislation, the challenges they faced and what lessons they’re bringing as they head into the next year with a $64 billion budget deficit hanging over their heads.

Many new lawmakers cited issues with time management, but a few remarked on their surprise and frustrations over who exactly gets to shape policy besides elected officials. Sen. Caroline Menjivar, a Democrat from Van Nuys, said that being a legislator isn’t a guarantee that “you’re at the table when decisions are being made.” And Assemblymember Corey Jackson, a Moreno Valley Democrat, commented on the certain disconnect between state officials and the constituents they serve. 

• Jackson: “Sometimes Sacramento is a bubble, and we think of things sometimes in terms of political maneuvers. Who have I gotten a check from that I don’t want to upset? Who are my political backers? As opposed to, who in my district will this help, or hurt?…. And if you’re not conscious of it, it’s easy to fall into.” 

To read what other legislators had to say about their first year, read Sameea’s story. You can read the first piece in this series as well.

More on the newbies: And for more on first-term legislators, read my interviews with Sen. Menjivar and Assemblymembers Jackson; Bill Essayli, a Riverside Republican; Joe Patterson, a Granite Bay Republican; Stephanie Nguyen, an Elk Grove Democrat; Liz Ortega, a Hayward Democrat; and Pilar Schiavo, a Santa Clarita Valley Democrat.

A unanimous vote Tuesday by the state’s Water Resources Control Board brings California one big step closer to delivering highly purified sewage into drinkable water — though it may not be flowing out of your tap until several years later, reports CalMatters’ Rachel Becker.

The board approved its first standards for the complex process of filtering, delivering and monitoring recycled water into potable water. The rules, which took more than a decade to develop and were outlined across 63 pages, will not go into effect immediately. They will be reviewed by the Office of Administrative Law, likely some time next year, and the first treatment facilities are several years away.

But if all goes to plan, California will have a more renewable and reliable supply of drinkable water during drought periods. Currently, recycled water is used for irrigation or other non-drinking purposes, and is mostly released into rivers, streams and the deep ocean.

• Darrin Polhemus, deputy director of the board’s Division of Drinking Water: “A city produces wastewater during a drought, and having that source available to augment other (drinking water) supplies can be critical.”

The treatment process is labor intensive, and the water is expected to be more expensive than imported water. Environmental groups also urged the board to adopt more stringent monitoring requirements to protect against potential health risks.

The Metropolitan Water District, a major supplier of treated water for Southern California, is anticipated to be one of the first to directly use recycled water for tap. By 2032, it is expected to produce about 115 million gallons of recycled water a day, enough to supply 385,000 households.

For more on turning recycled water into drinking water, read Rachel’s story.

The water board late Tuesday also voted to extend emergency drought restrictions in two key Klamath River tributaries. As Rachel explains, the decision aims to protect the rivers’ flows for collapsing salmon populations. Tribes and fishers who depend on the fish have battled ranchers and farmers over the Shasta and Scott rivers for years. Tuesday’s vote will mean that farms in Siskiyou County are expected to face water use restrictions if rivers dip below minimum thresholds.

Rachel, with CalMatters climate reporter Alejandro Lazo, also run down the key developments on the drought and climate policy as part of our series of 2023 year in review summaries.

From CalMatters economy reporter Levi Sumagaysay:

Google must pay $700 million in a proposed antitrust settlement over allegations that it stifled competition for its app store, Google Play.

The settlement is a result of a 2021 lawsuit, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 52 other attorneys general, accusing the Silicon Valley tech giant of “limiting consumer choice and capitalizing on commissions for in-app purchases, all while limiting alternative ways to download apps,” Bonta said in a press release.

Bonta said Tuesday in a press conference in San Francisco that $630 million of the settlement will be distributed among 105 million Android users who used the Google Play app store from August 2017 to September 2023. The attorney general said that affected consumers will not have to opt in; that they could receive payments automatically on PayPal, Venmo or directly into their bank accounts; and that more details are forthcoming. Google will also have to pay $70 million to the states in penalties, fees and costs. 

Google “made it extremely difficult for consumers to have options,” Bonta said. “It essentially maintained a monopoly and gouged consumers in the process.” 

The attorneys general of all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, announced a settlement in principle in September and released the terms of the deal Monday night. The settlement is pending court approval.

A Google spokesperson on Tuesday referred CalMatters to a company blog post that details the changes the company has agreed to make as part of the settlement. They include expanding billing options outside the company’s own app store; making clear that devices can have other pre-installed app stores besides Google’s; and updating the language that warns users when they download apps directly instead of through Google Play.

During the press conference, Bonta mentioned the state’s previous settlements with Google, including a $93 million settlement in September over location privacy and a $9.4 million deal last year over iHeartMedia radio ads. He also talked about two active lawsuits against Google, over search and ad technology. He said he expects a verdict for the former next summer, and a trial for the latter next year.

• Bonta: “I’m pro California businesses, but businesses have to follow the law.”

More on retail theft: Also on Tuesday, the select state Assembly committee on retail theft convened for the first time to listen to researchers, criminal justice reform advocates and representatives from retailers, law enforcement and workers about the impacts of shoplifting and retail theft. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, who formed the committee, was also in attendance. Though he described the issue as a “top concern,” he said he disagreed with the sentiment that “a surge in shoplifting… shows that America was descending into a lawless society,” and urged committee members to find solutions “with focus and urgency.” 

Tuesday’s hearing follows a meeting last week by the Little Hoover Commission on the same issue. The committee is expected to reconvene next year in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced that the California Highway Patrol’s organized retail crime task force set records this year with more than 1,000 arrests (up 109% from 2022) and the recovery of 187,515 items (38,600 more items than last year).

More on criminal justice: CalMatters’ Nigel Duara reviews prison closures and transformations, along with other policy highlights, in a year in review summary.

CA congressional numbers game