VERNON, Calif. (AP) — Members of Congress have asked the federal government to help clean up toxic lead from a former battery recycling plant outside Los Angeles.

Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla, along with Rep. Robert Garcia of Long Beach, appealed to the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday for help in cleaning up the former Exide Technologies plant. This is reported by the Los Angeles Times.

The Vernon plant is the source of the largest and most expensive cleanup in California history. The letter from the three Democrats says the EPA must designate the plant as a Superfund site to receive the necessary lead cleanup funds from at least 10,000 sites.

The letter cites a Los Angeles Times report that said tests showed soil in the yards of 73 of the 93 renovated homes had lead concentrations above the state’s health limit. In 22 of these homes, at least one sample exceeded the threshold fivefold.

The letter cites a Los Angeles Times report that said tests showed soil in the yards of 73 of the 93 renovated homes had lead concentrations above the state’s health limit. In 22 of these homes, at least one sample exceeded the threshold fivefold.

The state is currently overseeing a $750 million rehabilitation effort and has so far spent more than $336 million restoring nearly 4,400 properties.

“It is clear that only the federal government has the ability to resolve this crisis,” the lawmakers wrote to EPA Administrator Michael Regan. “We believe that the severity of the crisis, the failure of past remedial efforts to create healthy communities, and the risk to public health warrant assistance from EPA and the resources available through the Superfund program.”

The plant has operated near the Los Angeles River for nearly a century and has been cited by local, state and federal officials for violating hazardous waste laws by dumping too much lead and arsenic around the plant and onto the highways its trucks travel on. Exide Technologies purchased the plant in 2000 and operated it until 2015.

Exide, which said it did not pollute the surrounding areas, is not liable because it filed for bankruptcy in 2020.

A spokesman for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said the bankruptcy courts “let Exide off the hook” and the state would welcome the EPA’s help.

“We appreciate this support for the state’s request to designate the Exide facility and surrounding community as a Superfund site, which will lead to even more funding to support the cleanup,” said spokesman Anthony York. “The state will continue to use every opportunity to advance these efforts and protect public health.”