Smell something bad in your community? Here's how to get help and report the odor

Living among Southern California’s industrial facilities can have adverse effects on residents’ health and quality of life.

In recent years, communities across the region have endured the aftermath of industrial catastrophes.

Since June, residents and small business owners in Boyle Heights have been navigating foul odors and pests after tons of food were left rotting inside Lineage, a cold storage facility that experienced a weeklong fire.

Further south in the city of Carson, South Bay residents suffered through the stench of rotten egg for several days in 2021. That odor was later attributed to a large warehouse fire that caused chemicals in beauty products to seep into the Dominguez Channel. Those chemicals killed off vegetation along the channel, releasing high levels of hydrogen sulfide, a colorless gas that can be harmful to human health. Residents reported headaches, fatigue and respiratory problems.

That same year, the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant in Playa del Rey discharged 17 million gallons of raw sewage into the Pacific Ocean. Community members experienced nausea, headaches, and eye irritation. To ward off the smell, they shut their windows and avoided going outdoors. Some of them wore masks inside their homes.

For decades, communities in southeast L.A. grappled with odors emanating from rendering plants in the city of Vernon. These facilities receive dead animals, as well as kitchen grease and wastewater, and turn those materials into ingredients for pet food, cosmetics and other products.

In 2023, LAist identified four rendering companies clustered together in the city, along with a handful of slaughterhouses, meat processors, and many other industrial facilities. Public health experts said the density of these facilities, coupled with the hazardous chemicals rendering plants can emit, posed serious health risks to nearby residents.

But SoCal residents don’t have to face these issues alone. If you encounter a foul odor in your neighborhood, you can reach out to the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD).

AQMD is a regulatory agency that manages air quality in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. The agency’s employees work to control emissions from stationary sources of air pollution, including power plants, refineries and gas stations. AQMD issues permits and inspects these businesses to evaluate their compliance with local air quality rules, which are aligned with federal and state standards.

Boyle Heights residents have voiced their discontent with conditions in their community following the Lineage warehouse fire. In an email, AQMD spokesperson Rainbow Yeung said that, since July 12, the agency has received over 3,900 complaints about rotting meat and food odors associated with the facility.

Emissions from mobile sources, like cars, trains, and airplanes, are monitored by other agencies.

If you live in northern L.A. County, there’s one exception to keep in mind: The Antelope Valley — which includes cities like Lancaster and Palmdale — is outside the South Coast AQMD’s jurisdiction. That area is monitored by the Antelope Valley Air Quality Management District.

Jill Johnston, associate professor in UC Irvine’s department of environmental and occupational health, underscored that strong odors don’t just diminish local residents’ quality of life, they can also affect their health.

Emissions from rendering plants, for instance, can contain hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide, she said. These chemicals can exacerbate asthma symptoms and elevate blood pressure, Johnston added, and long-term exposure can adversely affect respiratory and cardiovascular systems.

On its website, AQMD warns that air pollution can “cause or worsen many health problems, including asthma attacks, respiratory disease, heart disease, certain types of cancers, and premature death.”

How to file an odor complaint

For residents who live within AQMD’s boundaries, there are three ways to file an odor report:

• Call (800) CUT-SMOG (1-800-288-7664) 
• Visit AQMD’s online complaint system
• Download and use AQMD’s phone app

All options are available 24-hours a day. During business hours (7 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Tuesday through Friday), your call will be answered by an attendant. Outside of business hours, you’ll be asked to leave a voice message.

The app is especially useful because it enables you to track the status of your complaint. You can also attach any images related to the issue.

Community members can use South Coast AQMD's app to share photos with inspectors.

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Courtesy AQMD

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In addition to odor complaints, these options can be used to report excessive dust or smoke in your neighborhood.

If you live in the Antelope Valley, you can file a complaint by completing a form on this website or by calling (661) 723-8070. You can also email the agency at complaints@avaqmd.ca.gov.

If you encounter a strong odor, think of specific ways to describe it (like “rotten eggs,” “burned plastic,” etc.) and try to identify its source, said Victor Yip, who oversees compliance and enforcement at AQMD.

Air quality agencies will ask you for the following information:

• The time the air quality incident occurred and whether it’s continuing at the time of your report
• The type of air quality complaint (dust, odor, smoke, etc.)
• Whether you have experienced this type problem in the past
• The name and address of the alleged source and the type of facility, if known
• Your contact information

When it comes to recurring odor issues, it’s useful to tell the agency the full scope of the problem, for example, "This happens every night at this time," Yip said. These details help inspectors “track [the odor] and get more information to be able to launch our investigation.”

Yip said residents should file complaints when an odor issue is happening, instead of waiting for it to pass, which can make it difficult to confirm and investigate.

He also noted that AQMD takes anonymous complaints. However, if you choose not to provide your contact information, the inspector won’t be able to contact you to learn more about the issue or provide any follow-up information.

When the agency receives complaints after hours, they’re routed to a standby supervisor who reviews them to determine if it’s necessary to take immediate action. Unless the air quality incident appears to pose a serious threat to the health or safety of the public, the supervisor usually dispatches an inspector to follow-up the next business day, Yip said.

If AQMD receives three or more complaints from different households about the same issue, an inspector will be dispatched after hours.

Some complaints can be resolved over the phone without additional follow-up. For example, after getting a call back from an inspector, a community member might say the odor they encountered is no longer present.

Other odor complaints require more work. If the source of a stench is unknown, an inspector will investigate potential sources based on the description in the complaint.

In these cases, the inspector assigned to your complaint might call for additional information. Yip said investigations are sometimes delayed when community members don’t answer follow-up calls.

“We understand everyone's busy,” he added, “but it would be just very, very helpful to our inspectors if you can pick up the phone.”

Following that chat, the inspector will locate and attempt to verify the source. Then, the inspector will survey the facility to determine the cause of the air quality problem.

When there are serious violations, penalties for the offending business can go up to $10,000 per day.