For yet another year, Los Angeles has been named by the American Lung Association as one of the cities with some of the dirtiest air in America. more ›

We're coming up on the one-year anniversary of the tsunami in Japan this Sunday. In anticipation of the anniversary, Heal the Bay says it has been fielding a lot of questions about what has happened to the estimated 20-25 million tons of debris that flooded into the ocean that day. more ›

The proposed pilot program to put an off-leash dog beach in Santa Monica has been buried like Fido's favorite bone, after state officials made it clear this week they will not approve the plan. more ›

After today's rainfall, the first significant shower since March, Heal the Bay urges Southlanders to steer clear of the Pacific for the next 72 hours. Swimmers are also advised to avoid contact with storm water that pools or streams along the beach. more ›

Of Metro's Red Line subway and Gold Line light rail, which puts commuters at more of a risk of exposure to potentially hazardous air pollutants? A study conducted by the University of Southern California finds that Red Line riders are exposed to up to twice as much unhealthy air as those on the Gold Line. more ›

Are you one of the many, many locals opting to beat the holiday heat with a sojourn by the shore? Well, take a number--our beaches have been crazy busy this weekend. How busy? According to officials, an estimated one million people showed to to Los Angeles County beaches on Saturday and the same on Sunday. more ›

California reached a 5-year high with 11% percent of beaches reporting an increase in bacterial contamination. In Los Angeles County, Avalon Beach, Cabrillo Beach and Colorado Lagoon topped the list of dirty waters. Poche County Beach and Doheny State Beach were the OC's biggest offenders. more ›

The 2011 State of the Air report has been released by the American Lung Association and it's enough to make you sick. Literally. The report, ranking U.S. metropolitan areas on ozone, short term particle pollution data, and historic particle pollution data from 2007-2009, places Los Angeles #1 for high ozone days and #4 and #2 in the particle categories. more ›

If you were under the misguided notion that your lungs were the only part of your body being damaged by a steady stream of inhaled smog, think again. Researchers at USC have published a study demonstrating that miniscule particles made up of burning fossil fuel and deterioration of car parts and pavement found in pollution created by freeways causes brain damage in mice, reports the Huffington Post. more ›

Who knew the waters that lap the shores of Long Beach were such a hot bed of headline-generating eco-focused news? 2010 was a banner year for environmental issues at the national and state level, and the Long Beach Gazettes.com takes a look back at the year at their beach. more ›

This cool weather has brought Southern California its first significant rainfall after a long drought period and that means stay away from the beach water, says Heal the Bay. That's because the county's 2,800-mile storm drain system, which is meant to prevent local flooding on rainy days, also moves pollution into the Santa Monica and San Pedro bays. more ›

When the surf's was up in California this summer, it was pretty safe to go in the water. The annual End of Summer Beach Report Card issued by Heal the Bay shows that 92 per cent of the state's beaches have "good-to-excellent water quality," reports MyFoxLA. more ›

Do extremely loud motorcycles bother you? A solution may now be in the fix. The state senate today approved a bill by Senator Fran Pavley (D - Santa Monica) that would give law enforcement a tool to enforce such bikes. more ›

The Pismo Beach Pier is home to hundreds of roosting pigeons, and their droppings are leaving behind more than just an unpleasant splotch for visitors, according to cbs2. more ›

A measure largely funded by two large Texas oil companies that would suspend California pollution standards unless unemployment dropped significantly qualified for the November ballot, Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced today. more ›

Los Angeles is number one in the country....at least when it comes to how much smog we have. The American Lung Association's annual State of the Air rankings names Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside as the most polluted in terms of Ozone this year (we take the #3 spot in Year Round Particle Pollution and #4 is Short-Term Particle Pollution, too). more ›

Despite various studies about how unhealthy it is to live directly next to a freeway, L.A. officials keep approving dense residential buildings that way. Now LA Weekly is blowing the whistle: "Today, in fact, the Department of City Planning chief Gail Goldberg and the Office of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa concede to L.A. Weekly that nobody in City Hall is tracking, or can even estimate, the number of children who have moved into housing erected within 500 feet of freeways since scientists documented the chilling health effects. Los Angeles lawmakers are making no effort to measure the human health costs of such housing. And with the shattered L.A. housing market now showing the first few signs of recovery, City Hall is set, once again, to embrace freeway-adjacent housing that's marketed to families." more ›

They should as it might be in their best interest. A new study from RAND says $193 million has been spent on hospital visits, thanks to air pollution. The study's goal was to put "credible evidence in front of insurers and the healthcare lobby, among the groups who work with these issues every day," reported KPCC. Economist John Romley said "these are folks who may have greater or significant influence in the political debate about air quality." L.A. and Orange counties accounted for more than half of the $193 million. more ›

A study published recently indicates that Angelenos who live near freeways " experience a hardening of the arteries that leads to heart disease and strokes at twice the rate of those who live farther away," according to the LAT's Greenspace blog. more ›

Wouldn't it be nice if one day it rained in Los Angeles and it wouldn't mean the government telling residents to stay away from beaches because of pollution? As with every time it rains, County Health Officer Jonathan E. Fielding cautions residents who are planning on visiting beaches and going in the water. Specifically, the concern is around discharging storm drains, creeks, and rivers where bacteria, debris, trash, and other public health hazards from city streets and mountain areas are likely to enter the ocean. more ›

Two to three hundred truckers are currently making their way up the 710 Freeway towards city hall in protest of "new environmental fees at the ports that they say threaten their livelihoods," according to the LA Times [Update: they have arrived to downtown]. Specially, they are protesting container fees for the Clean Truck Program, which has been law for over a year. more ›

Whenever it rains in Los Angeles, it exemplifies how we are all connected, whether living in the Valley or at the beach. "The county’s 2,800-mile storm drain system is designed to channel rainwater to the ocean to prevent local flooding," explains officials from the nonprofit Heal the Bay. "But it also has the unintended function of moving pollution directly into the Santa Monica and San Pedro bays following rainstorms." more ›

A long summer of hot-hot-hot heat means lots of beach days for Southern Californians. Now that the season is wrapped up, Heal the Bay has released their annual Summer Beach Report Card [PDF]. The non-profit group graded nearly 500 beaches statewide based on bacterial pollution levels monitored from Memorial Day to Labor Day this year, according to their release, and the news is generally pretty good. more ›

Public health officials today extended the closure to a portion of Will Rogers State Beach after tests confirmed that sewage was being discharged from a storm drain into the ocean. How much sewage? Approximately 9.600 gallons, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health. That's a big yuck. more ›

Past air quality alerts regarding Station Fire pollution stated that the air quality was unhealthy for "sensitive individuals," such as the elderly, children and those with respiratory problems. However, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health toda said air quality is "unhealthy for all individuals" in the San Gabriel Mountains and Valley. Air quality in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys remain "unhealthy for sensitive individuals." Officials urge residents to call the LA County info line at 2-1-1 with questions. more ›

The Station Fire has grown to 160,357 acres--that's over 250 square miles--up some 3,000 acres since last night. The blaze, now contained at 57 percent, has been a difficult fight for personnel and last night calmed on the western end, but became more aggressive on the northern one. more ›

Blame pollution: 2008 was another banner year for troubled waters at our nation's beaches, according to the results of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) annual study. Although last year was a dry one, "aging and poorly designed sewage and stormwater systems hold much of the blame for beachwater pollution [and] stormwater runoff contributed to two-thirds of the closing/advisory days in which a contamination source was reported." more ›

It looks like the Port of Los Angeles, which brings in billions for the city, is behind on cleaning up the popular but chronically polluted Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro. It looks likely that the city will miss a federal compliance deadline next Spring and people will be enjoying their summer swims in some yucky water. "Starting April 1, Cabrillo Beach must meet fecal bacteria water quality standards 100% of the time from April1 -Oct. 31. The liability to the City of Los Angeles to comply with the water quality requirements could be substantial, yet the pace to complete the Cabrillo projects in time to comply with the deadlines continues to be far too slow," explains Mark Gold of Heal the Bay. He says a contract management “short cut” is the culprit in slowing this project down. "As a result of poor time-management by the Port, the city will likely be out of compliance with the beach water quality standards when the April 1 deadline arrives. The end result? The public will continue to swim in polluted waters and the city will face tens of thousands of dollars in potential liability." more ›

We're number one! But if you're gearing up to start cheering, don't hold your breath. In fact, you might want to reconsider breathing in at all. Why? Because according to the Environmental Protection Agency, we have the most toxic air in the country, reports cbs2. more ›