BuSINESS
THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2019:: LATIMES.COM/BUSINESS
C
DOW26,007.07▼22.45 S&P5002,883.98 2.21▲▲NASDAQ7,862.83 29.56 GOLD$1,507.30 34.90▲ OIL$51.09 2.54▼ EURO$1.1214▲ .0014 U.S. T-NOTE(10-yr.)1.72% 0.02▼The U.S. National High-
way Traffic Safety Adminis-
tration sent Tesla Inc.’s Elon
Musk a cease-and-desist let-
ter last year regarding Model
3 safety claims and has sub-
poenaed the carmaker for
information on several
crashes, according to docu-
ments posted by a nonprofit
advocacy group.
NHTSA lawyers took is-
sue with an Oct. 7 Tesla blog
post that said the Model 3
had achieved the lowest
probability of injury of any
vehicle the agency ever
tested, the documents re-
leased Tuesday by the legal
transparency group Plain-
site show. The regulator said
the claims were inconsistent
with its advertising guide-
lines regarding crash ratings
and that it would ask the
Federal Trade Commission
to investigate whether the
statements were unfair or
deceptive acts.
The documents, ob-
tained through a Freedom of
Information Act request,
also include orders for infor-
mation that NHTSA sent to
Tesla after several crashes,
including a fatal March 1
crash involving a Model 3 op-
erating on Autopilot.
The agency routinely col-
lects information about po-AGENCY
PROBING
TESLA
SAFETY
CLAIMS
Carmaker’s blog post
may lead to consumer
confusion over
Model 3, U.S. says.
By Dana Hull
and Ryan Beene[SeeTesla,C6]In the wake of recent mass shoot-
ings, the Los Angeles County Fair’s
operators are beefing up security,
bringing a higher level of scrutiny to
the annual summer celebration of
carnival rides, high-calorie snacks
and farm animals.
“In light of the environment,
we’ve made significant investment
to make sure our guests and employ-
ees are safe,” said Miguel Santana,
chief executive of Fairplex, a private
nonprofit that operates the fair,
which runs this year from Aug. 30 to
Sept. 22, at its 487-acre facility in Po-
mona. “We always take security seri-
ously but we’ve made a deliberate ef-
fort to strengthen our security sys-
tem.”
Fairplex has spent $200,000 to
build a command center in the fair-
grounds where police, fire officials
and other emergency staff can coor-
dinate a response to an emergency,
Santana said. Extra video cameras
have been added to monitor the pe-
rimeter, as well as metal detectors
and a badge-scanning system to
screen fair employees and contrac-
tors before they enter the grounds,
he said.
Security experts say managers of
festivals and events that draw large
crowds should be working to im-
prove communication between po-
lice, security agents and other em-
ployees, as well as adding patrols
and video monitoring at the pe-
rimeter of such events. The gunman
at the Gilroy Garlic Festival gained
entry by cutting a hole in a fence be-
fore killing three and wounding
more than a dozen on July 28.
“Speaking the same language in
the interest of public safety is really
paramount,” said James DeMeo, a
retired police detective and founder
of Unified Sports & Entertainment
Security Consulting.
Americans are anxious about at-
tendingTHE COUNTY FAIR in Pomona will run from Aug. 30 to Sept. 22 with an emphasis on security after recent mass shootings.
Photographs by Francine OrrLos Angeles TimesFood, prizes — and beefed-up
security at L.A. County Fair
More cameras, metal detectors and a command center are planned this year
MIGUEL SANTANA, right, Fairplex chief executive, and Lu-
cas Rivera, senior vice president, oversee the fair’s operations.Francine OrrLos Angeles TimesBy Hugo Martin
[SeeFair, C7]WASHINGTON — Sev-
eral environmental groups
moved Wednesday to sue
the Phillips 66 refinery in the
South Bay, accusing it of
years of mismanaging haz-
ardous waste that could
pose a health risk to people
living near its Wilmington
and Carson facilities.
The groups’ planned law-
suit comes four years after
the U.S. Environmental Pro-
tection Agency first raised
concerns about the oil refin-
ery’s practices.
Environmental advo-
cates said their decision to
take legal action was the re-
sult of frustration with what
they said was lax oversight
by federal and state regula-
tors.
“These violations are sig-
nificant,” said Mary Greene,
deputy director of the Envi-
ronmental Integrity Project,
one of the organizations that
plans to sue. “This screams
of sloppy housekeeping and
poor environmental man-
agement.”
The group, a nonprofit
run by a former EPA enforce-
ment chief, as well as Envi-
ronmental Advocates, a SanRefinery could be sued over toxic waste
ENVIRONMENTAL groups delivered a notice of intent to sue to Phillips 66.Rick LoomisLos Angeles Times[SeeLawsuit,C8]Environmentalists say
Phillips 66 puts South
Bay residents at risk.
By Anna M. Phillips
Whether
organized
labor in the
United States
is sounding a
terminal
death rattle
or showing
signs of a
resurgence
depends on one’s perspec-
tive.
On the one hand, union
membership continues to
suffer a long-term decline,
especially in the private
sector — it’s down to less
than 11% overall from its
peak of nearly 35% in the
late 1950s.
On the other, organized
labor has notched some
notable victories in recent
years, including the fight for
$15, which prompted Cali-
fornia, Massachusetts and
cities such as Los Angeles
and Seattle to move their
minimum wage to or at least
toward $15 an hour.
Teacher strikes in 2018
brought higher wages and
improved working condi-
tions for teachers in such
locations as West Virginia,
Oklahoma and North Car-
olina — long considered
unpromising grounds for
labor activism.
On the whole, however,
things are not looking up.
That’s the theme of Steven
Greenhouse’s new book
“Beaten Down, Worked Up:
The Past, Present, and
Future of American Labor,”
which was officially pub-
lished Tuesday.
“One of the reasons ILabor
has its
work cut
out for it
MICHAEL HILTZIK[SeeHiltzik, C4]Turmoil for
delivery sector
FedEx’s decision to
shun Amazon points
to delivery wars
ahead. CMagazine to
shut down
The move to shutter
Pacific Standard after
a decade of publishing
comes as a surprise. C