So, after reading the article I'm about to discuss, I came up with three titles for this post, all of which I felt had merit.
First, "NIMBY Strikes Yet Again," because NIMBY is a thing. (Not In My Back Yard, if you didn't know.)
Second, "Hipster Douchebags Smite Themselves" because, well, you'll see.
And third, "You Fool! Why Would You Build It In LA?" because... Well, I want to put on record my opinion that any company that builds anything industrial in Los Angeles is run by misbred, illiterate monkeys who are doing this to show off for the ladies rather than for any legitimate business reasons.
So, for those of you who are already confused as to what I'm blathering about, you can go look up the term "Srirachapocalyse." Or, you know, I will save you the time.
Basically, the popular and distinctive chili sauce sriracha, currently experiencing a massive upswing in popularity due to a tremendous outpouring of support by 20-30 somethings who think of themselves as amateur foodies, is in danger of huge price spikes and supply shortages thanks to a small group of Los Angeles residents.
See, in the U.S., sriracha sauce is primarily manufactured and distributed by a single company: Huy Fong, Inc. They're the ones with the green cap and the rooster on the label.
Although Huy Fong has been happily churning out their condiment for years from a single facility in Rosemead, CA, which has been in operation since 1986 without issue or complaint, they recently invested a tremendous amount of money to build a new, larger facility in Irwindale, CA, to handle the increased demand.
And that's where they ran into trouble.
See, sriracha sauce's popularity has taken off in recent years - so much so, that just since Q3 2012, the number of commercial food items using sriracha as an ingredient have more than doubled. This is almost entirely due to its popularity among 20-30 year olds; it's a fad food.
But the same people who love to eat the stuff in job lots, also don't want the facilities which manufacture it anywhere near their homes.
So, they began filing increasingly ludicrous air quality complaints against Huy Fong.
Why do I say they're ludicrous?
Well, it's a facility that processes hot peppers, to make hot sauce. So, saying there's a discernible odor is reasonable.
Claiming that it's poisoning the air so badly that asthmatics and small children can't go outside their homes is simply ridiculous.
But the business of government, at least in California, is to hold your precious little hand and wipe away your tears, and soothe your boo-boo.
So, the South Coast Air Quality Management District sent a team of investigators to see what was going on.
They couldn't smell anything.
So they went back again, and the second time, they said there was a faint, garlicky smell.
None of them were hospitalized, unable to exit their vehicles, or otherwise inconvenienced.
They found that there was insufficient evidence to cite Huy Fong for a violation of any kind.
And they went away.
Huy Fong responded to the complaints regardless, installing augmented air filtration throughout the facility, and ensuring that they were in compliance with all relevant and pertinent codes, requirements, and laws. This facility is critically important to them; it has enabled Huy Fong to triple their expected production for next year.
But this was not enough for the residents of Irwindale, because they didn't actually have an issue with the smell, or any kind of air quality issue.
They just want the factory gone.
So they got the Irwindale City Attorney to file a lawsuit against Huy Fong, once again alleging that they were causing air quality problems, and demanding that the plant be shut down until Huy Fong provides evidence that they are addressing the issue...
...Even though they've already addressed it once, even after the city inspectors were unable to detect an actual problem.
See, here's the thing.
Complaining, "it smells like garlic! Yuck!" doesn't get anything done; the city mostly doesn't care.
Claiming that it's actually a health risk to residents will get some action taken...
...But see, if you claim there's a health risk, that's easily disproven.
For me, it's hard to call the company a bad guy, at all, considering they installed extra air filtration after the complaints even though the inspectors found no problems.
But if you just don't want to live next to an icky factory, where they make stuff, which is gross, then the company's attempts to resolve your imaginary problems will of course never be successful, since your real issue is with the existence of the company, not an air quality problem.
For proof? The inspectors who couldn't detect a smell were standing less than 20 feet from the factory's exhaust system outlet.
So: they want the condiment, they just don't want to be anywhere near where they make it.
Not In My Back Yard.
And they'll be the first ones in line to screech about how unreasonable the company is for raising prices, too, I'd bet.
Fucking hipsters.
As a (near) final note, the city of Philadelphia, and the city of Denton, Texas, have both offered to host Huy Fong should the company decide they're tired of California's utterly silly government and residents. One City Councilman of Philadelphia, in particular, pointed out that they have tremendous areas of unoccupied, zoned industrial property available, and offered the following:
"so you never have to worry about upsetting your neighbors again."Denton, Texas, said they would be delighted to host the 50 year-round, and 60 additional seasonal, jobs, as well as noting that they had plentiful sites away from residential areas, and that the Denton recycling plant specifically had the capability to handle the bottles used by Huy Fong.
And as a final note: the courts agree with me, even if you think I'm overly harsh. The judge denied Irwindale's initial injunction.
They're trying again, though. Because they really, really want sriracha to be manufactured somewhere else.
