City leaders address illegal Fresno lab emails
FRESNO, Calif. (KGPE/KSEE) – City leaders held a press conference on Tuesday to address emails from the end of 2022 that showed that the city knew about the illegal lab toward the end of 2022.
Illegal Reedley Lab: YourCentralValley.com’s complete coverage
City council members Miguel Arias, Garry Bredefeld, and city attorney Andrew Janz were at today’s press conference and addressed their need for transparency given the issue of this sensitive topic.
Lack of accountability, lack of follow through, and lack of communication – these were just some of the issues that Fresno city leaders said caused the enormous oversight when it came to the illegal bio lab operating in Fresno that moved to Reedley.
These emails show that the city knew about the illegal lab toward the end of 2022.Download
Arias says they want to not only fill in the gaps with what transpired over the four years that Universal Meditech was in Fresno but they want to give the general public as much information as possible regarding the illegal bio lab.
City council members revealed that the city knew about the hazards inside the Fresno illegal lab at the end of 2022 but no one ever followed up.
Fresno knew its illegal lab was dangerous, tried to warn others
City attorney Andrew Janz said the emails were obtained as a part of an internal review on his part and it was likely an oversight from various city leaders because at the time there was no city attorney.
“As soon as I was made aware of those documents, I immediately contacted the council and let them know, sort of what our process was back last year. I did not start until December. There were gaps, but we are filling those gaps,” says Janz.
According to the emails, some of the concerns included highly flammable materials, cross-contamination, and safety hazards were among some of the worries.
“Our code enforcement officers for the city of Fresno did an excellent job of reporting their findings to the appropriate agencies. However, they did not report up the ranks through the city. That is something we have changed so this doesn’t happen again.,” says Arias.
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