The Brief

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

For weeks, Lineage Logistics and the Los Angeles Fire Department have said ammonia — the hazardous material that’s key for industrial refrigerators — was quickly cleared from the warehouse fire zone. In the days after the fire, Lineage insisted that no measurable ammonia was detected in the area.

Now, community testing as well as data from Lineage and the Southern California Air Quality Management District show that elevated levels of ammonia were present in neighborhoods near the cold-storage warehouse weeks after the fire. 

Though air regulators and Lineage note the levels didn’t meet the state threshold requiring action to protect public health, community groups say the findings are alarming. Meanwhile, federal regulators are seeking answers from Lineage to determine what air contaminants were released during the fire. Lineage did not respond to questions from Boyle Heights Beat.

An analysis published Aug. 5 by the Community and Environment Research Lab at UC Irvine and East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice found higher levels of ammonia in streets close to Lineage.

That includes Indiana Street near Union Pacific Avenue, where the highest ammonia levels — 4,300 parts per billion — were detected on Aug. 2, more than a month after the fire was extinguished, through handheld Aeroqual monitors that community scientists from East Yard have been using to sample the air. 

An analysis published Aug. 5 by the Community and Environment Research Lab at UC Irvine and East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice found higher levels of ammonia in streets close to Lineage.

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Courtesy of Jill Johnston

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Experts agree that’s many times higher than what’s considered typical, though the standard for ammonia levels in L.A.’s air varies. 

UC Irvine and East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice classify 4 to 6 parts per billion as typical ammonia levels, a figure that’s also considered the baseline nationwide. To South Coast AQMD, typical background levels of ammonia in LA range up to 36 parts per billion. 

The analysis by the Community and Environment Research Lab and UC Irvine also shows that higher-than-normal ammonia levels were also detected from a distance.

About a mile from Lineage, ammonia levels have reached 108 parts per billion, according to publicly available data retrieved from a stationary monitor that South Coast AQMD placed late July at Eastman Avenue Elementary School.

To Jill Johnston, associate professor of environmental and occupational health at UC Irvine, the findings not only show “very high” ammonia concentrations closer to the facility, but also how “these chemicals are traveling into the nearby neighborhoods.”

The recent data, Johnston said, suggests that the “big source of ammonia” is coming from the rotting food in Lineage. She also pointed to the ammonia used in the facility’s refrigeration system. 

This analysis is just a snapshot of the potential air contaminants present near Lineage, said Johnston, an exposure scientist and environmental epidemiologist.

“In some ways it confirms what people have been experiencing for the last seven weeks … That they’re breathing poor air quality and subject to foul odors, and that we continue to see impacts on local air quality, even seven weeks into this process,” Johnston said. 

A white van with South Coast AQMD branding sits on the playground at Eastman Elementary in East Los Angeles.

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Steve Saldivar

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The LA Local

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to its website, said normal amounts of ammonia in the environment do not cause health effects in humans. However, the agency noted that exposure to high levels of ammonia “may hurt your skin, eyes, throat, and lungs and cause coughing and burns. Lung damage and death may occur after exposure to very high levels of ammonia.”

In a statement, South Coast AQMD said it has seen “some levels of ammonia” that were elevated above L.A. background levels at the Eastman Elementary monitor and from roaming ammonia measurements. South Coast AQMD declined to comment on the air sensors being used to take ammonia measurements. 

However, the agency noted, California’s short-term health benchmark — the level of ammonia a person could inhale continuously for one hour without adverse health effects — is 4,500 parts per billion. Despite elevated levels recorded near Lineage, “they do not exceed the State’s short-term health standards,” South Coast AQMD said. 

“We understand that the situation is dynamic and conditions are changing, particularly with the heat and the decomposing materials that have potential to offgas. We continue to monitor the situation closely,” the agency added. 

These findings come on the heels of a letter that the Environmental Protection Agency sent to Lineage on Aug. 3, ordering the company to detail the “specific substances,” including “all air contaminants,” that were released during the time of the fire. 

“The EPA is aware of a potential hazardous substance release event at the Lineage Logistics,” according to the letter. The agency did not state which substance and gave Lineage 14 days to provide them with the information.

Lineage, which has conducted air monitoring near the warehouse since June 23, said it has not identified chemical concentrations “above health-based action levels.” After saying on June 19 that it had not detected “measurable” amounts of ammonia, on Aug. 8, the company acknowledged on its website that “short-lasting ammonia detections” were observed at northern and eastern portions of the fire site. Lineage detected a peak of ammonia at 1,000 parts per billion.

Firefighters assess the remains of the Lineage warehouse that burned for a week and sent smoke into nearby communities.

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Andrew Lopez

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Boyle Heights Beat

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Mark Lopez with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice pushed back against the thresholds that air regulators are relying on to determine what’s safe and unsafe for residents. 

“What we’re dealing with is not short-term exposure. We’re not dealing with one hour, two hours, six hours, eight hours. We’re dealing with a lot of folks who are there 24 hours. It’s inappropriate to use the lowest bar for protecting the community,” Lopez said. “They’re using a standard that’s inappropriate for the actual lived experiences of our community.”

Lopez said air regulators shouldn’t normalize the notion that “there’s always elevated levels of pollution in our communities ... What they’re seeing is not alarming, and we’re like, yeah, because you’re not alarmed by environmental racism, and that’s the problem,” Lopez said.

Andy Pages drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single in the seventh inning to give Los Angeles the lead, and the Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 4-1 on Wednesday night to clinch their NL Division Series.

The Dodgers won back-to-back games in Atlanta to take the best-of-five matchup 3-1 and advance to the National League Championship Series as they seek to become the first NL team to win three straight World Series.

Pages lined a 3-2 pitch from Robert Suarez up the middle to drive in Teoscar Hernández, who singled off starter Tyler Mahle, and pinch-runner Tommy Edman for a 3-1 lead. Didier Fuentes walked pinch-hitter Josue De Paula and Kyle Tucker to load the bases. Edman ran for De Paula.

Max Muncy’s solo shot off Raisel Iglesias in the ninth padded the lead and gave the slugger 19 postseason homers with the Dodgers, extending his franchise record.

Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow, making his first start since Sept. 24, allowed only one hit but walked five batters in 4 2/3 innings. After he issued two walks in the fifth, left-hander Alex Vesia ended the inning on Matt Olson’s groundout to second base.

The missed opportunity left the Braves with 18 walks in the series, and none scored.

Glasnow and four relievers combined to give up just three hits. Tanner Scott pitched a perfect eighth before Edwin Díaz got three quick outs for the save.

Mahle, a native of Newport Beach, California, who grew up a Dodgers fan, allowed two runs — one earned — in 6 1/3 innings.

Michael Harris II hit Glasnow’s first pitch for a single before stealing second and eventually scoring from third on a wild pitch that bounced off catcher Will Smith’s chest protector.

The Dodgers pulled even in the second with the help of two Atlanta errors. Shohei Ohtani walked, stole second and advanced to third on catcher Sean Murphy’s errant throw into center field. Muncy’s pop fly into shallow left field was dropped by shortstop Mauricio Dubón for another error, allowing Ohtani to score.

Hernández crashed into the wall while attempting to catch Ozzie Albies’ double off Vesia leading off the sixth. Hernández pointed to his head and neck when talking to an athletic trainer but remained in the game.

Edgardo Henriquez stranded Albies at second. Henriquez allowed one hit in 1 2/3 scoreless innings for the win.

Injury report

Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas was held out after leaving Tuesday night’s 3-1 win during an at-bat in the eighth inning with lower back soreness. Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said Rojas would not be available off the bench.

Ronald Acuña Jr. started in right field for Atlanta one day after being moved to designated hitter in a late lineup change due to right knee soreness.

Up next

The Dodgers will face Milwaukee or San Diego in Game 1 of the NLCS on Sunday.

The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday sued President Donald Trump’s administration for recent television advertisements that promoted his political message while costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that the ads are illegal government-sponsored propaganda and accuses Trump of personally directing them. It asks the court to declare the ads illegal and stop the use of federal funds to pay for them.

Trump has faced bipartisan backlash for the ads, which glorify him and echo his campaign pitch as voters cast early ballots with the midterm elections less than a month away.

The spots, which began airing in September, already have cost more than $12 million to run, according to the media tracking firm AdImpact, and a total of $20 million in Homeland Security Department funding has been tapped to pay for them.

Responding Monday to the criticism, Trump defended the ads as “positive promotion for our Great U.S.A.” but said he’d pay for them using his MAGA Inc. super PAC going forward.

But on Tuesday, the fifth ad in the campaign began airing with the notice “paid for by the U.S. Government,” promoting Trump’s military actions in Venezuela earlier this year. The same day, Trump made it clear he hasn’t committed to reimbursing any money that has already been spent, telling reporters “we’ll decide.”

DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement that Trump is misusing taxpayer dollars in “a last-ditch attempt to save Republicans in November.”

“Americans deserve better than to have their hard-earned tax dollars used for Trump’s illegal schemes,” he added.

Legal experts have suggested the ads run afoul of a federal statute against congressionally appropriated money being used for “publicity or propaganda,” and potentially other federal laws. The Homeland Security money tapped for the ads comes from a $175 million package Congress gave to the department as part of Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda.

The White House has defended the ads as public service announcements akin to what past administrations have done to promote various policies. Legal experts have said the recent ads differ from many past public service announcements because they aren’t aimed at helping members of the public benefit from specific government programs.

The defendants in the lawsuit — Trump, the White House, DHS and the Office of Management and Budget — didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Fall has only just begun, but it's already time to start thinking about the quintessential winter bug: the flu.

The annual flu season usually starts in October or November. But this year, it looks like the flu started to pick up in early September.

"There are enough signs pointing in the same direction to make me think, 'OK, yes. This is the start of flu season,'" says Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The percentage of people testing positive for the flu in the West has been rising steadily since around the beginning of September, she says. And the number of people showing up in emergency departments because of the flu has also been rising for weeks, she adds.

"It's very uncommon to see flu activity rising this early. It's activity that we might normally see more like November or December," she says.

The timing of the flu season isn't the only thing that's odd. It's also unusual that flu activity seems to have started in Western states, such as California, Washington, Hawaii and Alaska.

"It typically starts in the South and then expands from there," Rivers says. "So two uncommon developments there."

Rivers stresses that the amount of flu activity is still very low in most parts of the country. But that's starting to change as the flu picks up nationwide.

It's unclear why flu activity would have started so early, and in such an unusual part of the country. But one clue might be a new variant that evolved a mutation, which appears to make it better at evading existing immunity, especially among teenagers.

"That's our best argument for what's going on right now in terms of this early flu season," says Dr. Alex Greninger, a virologist who heads infectious disease diagnostics at the University of Washington. Doctors there are seeing as much flu right now as they usually would around Christmas, and the mutated variant appears to be common, he says.

So Greninger, Rivers and others are urging people to think about getting their flu shot earlier than usual.

"It's crucial that people get an influenza vaccine," says Scott Hensley, a virologist at the University of Pennsylvania. "And this might be a year that people might want to get a vaccine early."

But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn't been promoting flu shots as it usually does. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who oversees the CDC, is a long-time vaccine skeptic.

"It is disappointing that CDC is quiet given that flu kills of hundreds of kids a year and can result in tens of thousands of hospitalizations and tens of thousands of deaths," says Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who resigned last year as the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to protest what he called political interference at the agency.

The CDC declined to make an official available to NPR for this story. In a statement, a CDC spokesperson said, "CDC is developing a communications strategy to provide clear, accessible information about influenza vaccination and other critical steps people can take to protect themselves during respiratory virus season. This includes information about the benefits and risks of vaccination to support informed decision-making."
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