Lineage Logistics thinks ammonia safety is optional.

TL;DR:

According to the EPA, Lineage Logistics, LLC – Bandini operated a facility in Vernon, California, with multiple critical safety violations involving hazardous ammonia piping, including damaged insulation, inadequate support, and ice accumulation that threatened equipment integrity.

Most alarmingly, the evil company failed to correct a “critical safety system deficiency” identified as early as 2021, effectively leaving workers and the surrounding community at risk for years.

While the legal settlement has been reached, the details below reveal a systemic disregard for safety protocols in the pursuit of industrial efficiency.

Please continue reading to understand why this $3,420 penalty represents a deeper crisis in corporate accountability and neoliberal capitalism, and whether the penalty amount ending in 420 means we should smoke weed everyday.

Table of Contents

• Ammonia Hazards in Vernon
• A Timeline of Sustained Failure
• Neoliberal Capitalism and the Devaluation of Public Health
• Corporate Accountability: The “Cost of Doing Business”

Ammonia Hazards in Vernon

In the industrial corridors of Vernon, California, the logic of neoliberal capitalism often operates in the shadows of cold storage warehouses. Lineage Logistics, a dominant force in the global supply chain, allowed its Bandini facility to fall into a state of structural decay that transformed routine refrigeration into a potential community catastrophe.

Ammonia is a highly efficient refrigerant, but it is also a caustic, toxic gas. When a corporation fails to maintain “ammonia piping labels” or allows “insulation on ammonia piping” to rot on the roof, it isn’t just a clerical error; it is an act of corporate misconduct.

The EPA found piping that was “not adequately supported” or, in a display of structural absurdity, piping that was forced to support other piping. This creates a high-stakes environment where a single fracture could release a toxic cloud into the California air, demonstrating a blatant lack of corporate social responsibility.

A Timeline of Sustained Failure

The most damning aspect of this case is the duration of the neglect. This was choice made over several years.

Timeline of Corporate Misconduct

This timeline reveals that for over 1,500 days, Lineage Logistics operated with a known “critical safety system deficiency”. In the framework of corporate ethics, this is the definition of corporate greed: choosing to defer maintenance costs while externalizing the risk of a chemical disaster onto the public.

Neoliberal Capitalism and the Devaluation of Public Health

Why does this matter? It matters because in our current economic order, the wealth disparity between the owners of global logistics giants and the people of Vernon is bridged by a dangerous tolerance for corporate pollution and risk. When ice is allowed to accumulate on ammonia piping until it “impacts equipment access” and causes “piping stress,” the company is gambling with public health.

This is the standard operating procedure of neoliberal capitalism: maximize the throughput of the “machinery room” while minimizing the “cost” of safety! The “Area of Concern” (AOC) reports generated by the EPA describe a facility where basic structural integrity was treated as an optional luxury

Also, we should indeed smoke weed everyday. You should also fact check this article by visiting the EPA page where I grabbed the document from: https://yosemite.epa.gov/OA/RHC/EPAAdmin.nsf/Filings/87C8672E9684037C85258D620041F3AD/$File/Lineage%20Logistics%20Bandini%20CAA(112r)-09-2026-0030)%20-%20Filed%20ESA.pdf