Community testing finds elevated levels of metals in LA River after the Lineage fire

A community-led effort that tested water runoff from the burned Lineage cold-storage facility found that elevated levels of metals made their way to the Los Angeles River.

The findings of increased concentrations of iron, zinc, chromium and lead are highlighted in a Sept. 22 report published by researchers and scientists from UCLA, UC Irvine and East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice. 

According to the report, members of East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice noticed that the water firefighters sent to the flames — an estimated 12,000 gallons of water per minute — was draining into the LA River. 

That’s what spurred Emmanuel Carrera Ruedas, a member of East Yard, and Casey Cooper, a community scientist, to gather water samples and test the runoff for metals from building materials after the fire ignited June 17. The fire was knocked down June 24.

Carrera Ruedas and Cooper took samples from puddles outside Lineage, from an L.A. River drainage spout and from a containment boom before the water runoff went into the river. Samples were also taken about 150 meters upstream and 100 meters downstream from the L.A. River drainage line and near Cudahy Park, which sits alongside the lower L.A. River. A total of 42 samples were sent to a lab at Columbia University in New York. 

Major findings from downstream samples retrieved between June 19 and 24 show that average concentrations of iron, zinc, chromium and lead were higher compared to “previously measured maximum concentrations” in 2018-24 data from the Los Angeles River Watershed Monitoring Program.

Here’s what the report found:

• Iron concentrations were 23 times higher than previously measured
• Zinc concentrations were 11 times higher than previously measured
• Chromium concentrations were 2.4 times higher than previously measured
• Lead concentrations were 2.4 times higher than previously measured

A community-led effort that tested water runoff from the burned Lineage cold-storage facility found that elevated levels of metals made their way to the Los Angeles River.

Zinc concentrations from downstream samples were also found to exceed dry weather standards set by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Metals such as lead have been found to affect human health and are known to contribute to brain damage, stunted growth and learning and behavioral problems, according to the report. Chromium, iron and zinc are of concern because they could affect aquatic life, such as fish, the report noted. 

Yoshira “Yoshi” Ornelas Van Horne, an exposure scientist and assistant professor with the UCLA Fielding School’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences, could not clearly say how exposure to these metals could have impacted people long-term “because we don’t know how often they may be going [to the river],” either to cool down or engage in other recreational activities like fishing.

Carrera Ruedas and Ornelas Van Horne presented their findings at a meeting of the Los Angeles Regional Water Board on Thursday. 

The meeting appears to be the first public forum where water quality issues related to the Lineage fire have been discussed.

“We need to stop river erasure,” Carrera Ruedas told the board. He also said he observed oil in the LA River long after cleanup of the estimated 25,000 gallons of crude oil spilled during a May 22 drilling incident in East L.A.

“We must include the river as part of our narrative … as part of our ecosystem because the river is alive and it deserves protection,” Carrera Ruedas said. “I hope together we can figure out how to make our river safer and cleaner for not just us, but for aquatic life.”

A community-led effort that tested water runoff from the burned Lineage cold-storage facility found that elevated levels of metals made their way to the Los Angeles River.

Jenny Newman, assistant executive officer of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, presented a summary of water quality data collected during and after the fire by the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, which found elevated but “not alarming” concentrations of copper, lead and zinc were detected between June 17 and 26. 

Newman also summarized water quality findings from the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works and Lineage.

Annelisa Moe, who oversees Heal the Bay’s water quality efforts, presented data showing a sharp increase in bacteria levels on June 24 and 25, compared to the pre-fire samples taken on June 11.

At the meeting, Laisha Angeline Atjun, of East L.A., urged that water quality findings be made accessible in one public space, in English and Spanish, “so that it can be digested by every member of our community.”

She told board members that word of mouth, instead of standard data, is how her community has been informed about the Lineage fire. Atjun said the river should be monitored during the rainy season. “The storms may flush out what’s still in the drains,” she said. 

Atjun asked for prevention and response, “so drains are contained and downstream communities are notified within hours.”

“Boyle Heights and my home East L.A. have already carried more than their share of pollution,” she said of the oil spill and Lineage fire. “Residents shouldn’t have to organize our own testing to know what’s in the river.”

Fatima Carrera, of Southeast L.A., lamented the river being treated as a dumping ground for natural disasters and what many see as an “appropriate way of getting rid of all our contaminants.”

“We’ve completely disconnected from the natural world around us,” Carrera added.

“I would like to see the development of a meaningful emergency response system that’s capable of protecting our communities during these disasters. … We’re not asking for special treatment. We’re asking for a basic right to have clean water,” Carrera told the board.

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