California Sues Companies Over $136 Million Lead Smelter Cleanup

California is suing a handful of companies in federal district court to recover the costs of cleaning up nearly 100 years of pollution from a lead smelter near Los Angeles, amounting to more than $136 million.

The companies, including JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corp. and NL Industries Inc., owned, operated, or sent hazardous waste to the smelter in Vernon, Calif., according to the complaint filed Dec. 14 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

The smelter was most recently owned by Exide Technologies Inc., but after the company’s bankruptcy, the property was transferred to a “vastly ...