Lineage touts 101.8% cleanup completion, but there still may be food waste inside

The math ain’t mathing.Lineage says it has removed 101.8% of the food waste from its fire-ravaged Boyle Heights warehouse.At the same time the company says it’s not done removing all the rotting material inside the burned out facility.

The head-scratching cleanup claim comes nearly two months after a fire destroyed the building and left the area with a horrible stench.“We cannot take them at their word,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said.City personnel entered the facility Thursday and spotted remaining food waste, Bass said.Inspectors are expected back Friday.Lineage already blew past the city’s Aug.

14 deadline to remove an estimated 88 million pounds of food left inside the warehouse following the stubborn June 17 fire.“Lineage missed the August 14 deadline, they moved the goal post, and then they failed again,” Bass said.Lineage disputes that timeline, saying its deadline under South Coast Air Quality Management District orders was Aug.20 because the Los Angeles Fire Department did not hand over the building until July 7.And now the company is saying it has gone beyond 100% of the job.In a Thursday community update, Lineage said it had removed 101.8% of the bulk food waste from Freezer 1, the portion of the warehouse that was not burned.The company calculated the figure by weighing everything removed since the cleanup began July 7. With the original estimate pegged at 88 million pounds, Lineage says more than 88 million pounds have now been hauled away.There’s a wrinkle, though: That total can include debris, water and other material.And Lineage acknowledges that food could still be inside.The company says it expects to finish removing the remaining material in the coming days before moving further into the next phase of the cleanup.That phase includes removing loose debris, power washing, disinfecting, detailing and deodorizing the facility.

Lineage expects that work to be completed by Aug.27.The freezer that took the brunt of the June 17 b...