Irvine City Council Hears Three Hours of Public Testimony from North Irvine Residents Regarding the All American Asphalt Plant
North Irvine residents turned out in force on July 12th, pleading with the City Council through nearly three hours of public comments to take action against the All American Asphalt plant that for years has been blanketing their neighborhoods with foul odors and insidious airborne carcinogens. They were rewarded with a four-pronged measure introduced by Councilmember Larry Agran and passed 5-0 after much discussion.
Saying he wants to “build a fire under everybody” to get action, Agran’s measure aims to get the plant either closed by the end of the year or its operations restricted pending relocation as soon as possible.
“It’s an urgent situation,” said Agran, who has repeatedly over the past 18 months tried to get the Council to take up the issue in public but to no avail because none of the other four Councilmembers would support his requests until now. “I regard AAA as a bad actor … behaving in a way that endangers our community. This plant is emitting huge quantities of benzene, formaldehyde, VOCs (volatile organic compounds), you name it.”
