Exide to Upgrade California Battery Recycling Plant

Exide Technologies said it will spend more than $7 million at its Vernon, Calif., battery recycling facility to improve its environmental compliance.

The Milton, Ga.-based Exide said in a news release the investment is aimed at raising the Vernon plant's environmental standards and reducing air emission levels well below regulatory health risk thresholds, as part of an agreement with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC).

The planned expenditures will bring Exide's total investment in environmental upgrades at the Vernon plant to more than $18 million since 2008.

"We continue to strive to make our Vernon plant a premier recycling facility and consider the health and safety of the community and our workforce a top priority," said Robert Caruso, Exide president and CEO.

The agreement between Exide and DTSC resolves issues stemming from a suspension order in April that shut down the Vernon plant for more than seven weeks. The facility resumed operations in late June after obtaining a preliminary injunction ruling in its favor from a Los Angeles Superior Court.

The Vernon plant is one of two battery recycling facilities west of the Rockies. It recycles approximately 25,000 lead-acid batteries daily and 8 million a year.