IRWINDALE>> Sriracha hot sauce may leave Irwindale for a new home in the Lone Star State.
Huy Fong Foods CEO David Tran Wednesday invited a Texas lawmaker into his Azusa Canyon Road manufacturing plant to observe the facility’s operation before he considers moving the popular hot sauce factory to Texas.
“(I) would first like to cordially invite you to come visit (the) facility in Irwindale so you can observe firsthand our operations as well as to assess whether there is any potential issues that may affect your residences before the company considers moving to Texas,” said a letter Tran addressed to Texas state Rep. Jason Villalba, R-Dallas.
Villalba released a press release Monday extolling the virtues of doing business in Texas and implored Tran to consider relocating his facility there.
“Just meet with us. Let us tell you what is possible by moving your operations to Texas. You will not be disappointed,” Villalba wrote.
The exchange came on the heels of the Irwindale City Council’s vote last week, which declared the Sriracha factory has created a public nuisance. Residents began filing complaints with the city last fall of a strong chili odor emanating from the factory that caused their eyes to burn, nosebleeds and induced coughing fits.
Irwindale City Attorney Fred Galante called Tran’s statement surprising.
“I think that that’s just extreme and doesn’t seem warranted given the (South Coast Air Quality Management District’s) suggestions that there’s a readily available fix,” said Galante.
Huy Fong’s Executive Operations Officer Donna Lam said Tran was “disappointed and discouraged” by the Council’s decision.
Lam said Tran is also extending his invitation to any other municipalities that are interested in having Sriracha call their city its home.
Officials from Alabama, Philadelphia, Louisiana, Kansas, Ohio, Georgia, Iowa, Arizona, New Mexico, West Virginia, Washington and other cities in California have also courted Tran and offered a potential relocation, Lam said.
Tran has already surveyed his employees to see who would be willing to relocate if the company did move.
While many lawmakers are trying to bring Sriracha to their states, some California lawmakers are hoping Tran stays in California if he does relocate.
San Fernando Valley Congressman Tony Cardenas released in a press release a letter he wrote to Tran Wednesday asking Tran to stay in California and relocate his business to the San Fernando Valley.
“By now, you may have been directly contacted by individual states to move your business there,” Cardenas wrote. “But why move thousands of miles when you can keep jobs in California, the state you founded your successful company in?”
Cardenas offered his assistance in helping Tran with the transition.
San Gabriel Valley lawmakers state Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, and state Assemblyman Roger Hernandez, D-West Covina, submitted statements during the City Council’s public hearing expressing support for the Sriracha sauce maker.
“I’m certain there are a number of cities right here in the San Gabriel Valley who would be happy to have a business like Huy Fong Foods in their community,” the statement from Sen. Ed Hernandez said.
The city of Irwindale filed a lawsuit against Huy Fong Foods in October because of the odor, which neighbors say is heightened during the chili grinding season that began in late August and lasted through mid-November. A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge denied the city’s request for a temporary restraining order, which would have shut down operations at the facility, but instead issued a preliminary injunction that prohibits Huy Fong from any operations that create the odor. The case is expected to go to trial in November.
Court records show the complaints began with City Councilman H. Manuel Ortiz’s son and about a dozen other residents submitted testimony. Data from the South Coast Air Quality Management District showed that it has received 61 complaints from residents since October, the majority of which came from four households.
Meanwhile, Huy Fong has been working with the AQMD to test air quality inside the facility. Huy Fong’s attorney John Tate told the council last week the company would have carbon filters installed at the plant by June 1.