Only a fraction of fire cleanup workers are protecting themselves against toxic debris. One community center is fighting to change that
A crew of 10, many sporting bright orange National Day Laborer Organizing Network T-shirts, funneled out of a Mexican restaurant on the edge of the Eaton burn scar.
Four months — to the day — after winds smashed a tree into a car next to NDLON's Pasadena Community Job Center and soot blanketed the neighborhood, a University of Illinois Chicago professor, NDLON staff and volunteers sorted into cars under the midday sun and began discreetly traveling every road in fire-stricken Altadena.
They watched nearly 250 crews, working long hours (for good pay) under contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, remove the toxic debris covering the landscape in the wake of the fire.
Of the over 1,000 workers they surveyed in the burn area on May 7 and 9, only a quarter wore gloves, a fifth wore a protective mask, and a mere tenth donned full Tyvek suits, as required by California's fire cleanup safety regulations, the group's report, released Thursday, found.
For Pablo Alvarado, co-executive director and co-founder of NDLON, the results aren't surprising.
NDLON — a Pasadena-based, national network of day laborer organizations, focused on improving the lives of day laborers, migrant and low-wage workers — has been responding to post-disaster worker safety issues for decades. Alvarado couldn't help but remember the laborers he and NDLON supported during the cleanup following 9/11 over 20 years ago.
'Those workers are no longer alive. They died of cancer,' he said. 'These are workers I'd known for decades — their sons, their cousins.'
As Alvarado watches a new generation of laborers get to work in the aftermath of the L.A. fires, his call to action is simple: 'I just don't want to see people dying.'
NDLON has seen lax PPE use time and time again following disasters. Since 2001, NDLON has dispatched to countless hurricanes, floods and fires to support what the organization calls the 'second responders' — the workers who wade through the rubble and rebuild communities after the devastation. Eaton was no different.
'We always respond around the country to floods, fires, no matter where it is,' said Cal Soto, workers' rights director for NDLON, who helped survey workers in the burn area. For the Eaton fire, 'we just happen to be literally in the shadow of it.'
When wildfires push into developed areas like Altadena, they chew through not just trees but residents' cars, plastics, batteries and household goods like detergents and paint thinners, releasing hosts of toxic chemicals previously locked away.
They include heavy metals like lead and mercury, capable of damaging the nervous system and kidneys, as well as arsenic and nickel, known carcinogens. Organic materials like wood and oil that don't fully burn can leave polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons — or PAHs — which can harm the immune system and cause sickness in the short term and cancer in the long term.
Read more: The L.A. wildfires left lead and other toxic material in the soil of burn zones. Here are their health risks
Their primary opportunities to enter the body are through the inhalation of toxic air or through ingestion, after collecting on the hands of a person who then touches their face or uses their hands to eat. They can also, to a lesser extent, absorb directly through the skin.
Masks and disposable head-to-toe coverall suits act as a barrier against the dangerous contaminants.
The responsibility to ensure workers are using those protective barriers on the job ultimately falls on the employer, said Soto.
However, the breakdown of the safety standards can happen anywhere in the chain: The state's OSHA division can fail to communicate rules to companies and enforce them. Employers can fail to educate their employees or provide the correct PPE. Workers themselves — despite it all — can choose to remove their PPE on long, hot days where a plastic suit and heavy duty mask feel suffocating.
'Sometimes it's uncomfortable to wear all of that crap — particularly when it's hot," said Alvarado, who was a day laborer before founding NDLON. "Sometimes you feel like you're suffocated.'
NDLON and its Pasadena Community Job Center, within hours of the Eaton fire, became a hub for the community's response. Its volunteers handed out PPE, food and donations to workers and community members. By the end of January, it had hundreds of helping hands clearing Pasadena's parks and streets of debris to assist overwhelmed city employees.
At the same time, day labor, construction and environmental remediation workers quickly rushed into the burn zone along with the donations, media attention and celebrities. Like clockwork, so did the labor safety violations.
In a dimly-lit Pasadena church in late January, dozens of day laborers watched as Carlos Castillo played the role of an impatient boss, barking directions at three workers standing before them.
'Hurry up,' Castillo told them in Spanish, handing out boxes of protective suits and masks. One woman, standing in front of the room, fumbled with the straps of a respirator.
Debora Gonzalez, health and safety director NDLON, eyed the day laborer's efforts before asking the crowd: 'What is our friend missing?'
'Gloves!' someone called out.
Gonzalez and other volunteers called on the crowd, who quickly pointed out more problems with the equipment that the three workers had hastily donned. One had a mask that wasn't sufficient for toxic cleanup; Gonzalez also pointed out that his beard would allow dust to infiltrate.
Castillo, a volunteer trainer and president of the D.C.-based immigrant worker-support nonprofit Trabajadores Unidos de Washington D.C., reminded them that when they are cleaning up an area after a wildfire, there could be a range of noxious chemicals in the ash. Gonzalez said she wanted them to be prepared.
'Tomorrow we'll practice again,' she told them.
NDLON set up the free trainings for any day laborers interested in supporting fire recovery after some laborers began picking up work cleaning homes contaminated with smoke and ash near the fire zones.
Employers are supposed to provide protective equipment to workers and train them on how to use it, but 'many times employers want to move quickly. They just want to get the job done and get the job done as quickly as possible,' said Nadia Marin-Molina, NDLON co-executive director. 'Unfortunately, workers' health goes by the wayside.'
As NDLON worked to educate day laborers, another group of workers moved in: The Army Corps of Engineers' contractors. Alvarado quickly noticed that many of the corps' workers were not wearing the required PPE.
Never one to let the 'Day Laborer' in NDLON's name limit his compassion, Alvarado reached out to a longtime collaborator, Nik Theodore, a University of Illinois Chicago professor who studies labor standards enforcement, to do something about it.
A week later, Juan Pablo Orjuela, a labor justice organizer with NDLON, made sure the air was recirculating in the car as the team drove through the burn zone, surveying workers for the NDLON and University of Illinois Chicago report in early May. He watched an AllTrails map documenting their progress — they'd drive until they had traced every street in northeast Altadena.
Read more: When FEMA failed to test soil for toxic substances after the L.A. fires, The Times had it done. The results were alarming
Orjuela spotted an Army Corps crew working on a home and pulled the car to the curb. 'Eight workers — no gloves, no Tyvek suit,' he said.
Nestor Alvarenga, a day laborer and volunteer with NDLON, sat in the back, tediously recording the number of workers, how many were wearing protective equipment and the site's address into a spreadsheet on an iPad with a beefy black case. One worker walked up to the car; Orjuela slowly lowered the window.
'Do you guys need anything?' the worker asked.
'No, we're OK,' Orjuela said, 'we'll get out of your way.'
Orjuela rolled up the window and pulled away. 'I don't really have to tell anybody what I'm doing,' he said. 'I'm not being antagonistic, but you know … I'm just not saying anything to anybody.'
Theodore and NDLON hope the window survey, spanning 240 job sites with more than 1,000 total workers, can raise awareness for safety and health concerns in the burn areas, help educate workers, and put pressure on the government to more strictly enforce compliance.
'This was no small sample by any means,' Theodore said. 'This was an attempt to be as comprehensive as possible and the patterns were clear.'
For Soto, the results are a clear sign that, first and foremost, employers are not upholding their responsibility to ensure their workers' safety.
'It's the responsibility of the employer,' he said. 'I want to be clear that we have that expectation — that demand — always.'
Yet the window survey found even job sites where the PPE requirements are explicitly listed by the employer on a poster at the site, usage was still low. The reality, NDLON organizers said, is that the state must step in to help enforce the rules.
'I understand that the disaster was colossal, and I never expected the government to have the infrastructure to respond immediately,' said Alvarado, 'but at this point, making sure workers have PPE, that's a basic thing that the government should be doing.'
Former Times staff writer Emily Alpert Reyes contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
Insurer Blue Shield of California's new parent company alarms consumer advocates
Last year, regulators approved a request by Blue Shield of California, the state's third-largest health insurer, to restructure and establish a new parent corporation in Delaware. The Oakland-based nonprofit got the go-ahead from the Department of Managed Health Care, or DMHC, to create an entity called Ascendiun Inc., which is now the out-of-state corporate parent of Blue Shield. The insurer said that the restructuring would allow it to better serve its members 'with less bureaucracy and faster results, while making health care more affordable.' But the transaction has raised alarm among a former high-level Blue Shield executive and consumer advocates, who complain that it was carried out with no public oversight and could allow the insurer to transfer money to a Delaware parent company with few strings attached. The activists claim that some of that money could be used to boost its spending on charitable endeavors. The company has accrued a surplus of more than $4 billion over the decades as it benefited from its former tax-exempt status, according to a regulatory filing. 'The move guts the ability of the DHMC to enforce Blue Shield's nonprofit obligations to the California public and gives Blue Shield's directors ... a virtually free hand to make use of Blue Shield's billions of dollars in charitable assets as they please,' wrote Michael Johnson, the insurer's former vice president of public policy, in a recent letter to Mary Watanabe, director of the department, which was reviewed by The Times. Johnson is calling for the department to rescind its approval and unwind the restructuring. The department maintains that the insurer is not subject to charitable trust rules as a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation. In a statement, the department said it 'maintains full regulatory authority and enforcement of all Blue Shield of California health plan operations,' and reviewed the transaction to ensure that it will not harm the plan's financial viability. Blue Shield's restructuring is reviving a longstanding debate about whether one of the state's largest insurers is reinvesting enough of its profit to lower its rates, better serve low-income residents and provide coverage for underserved areas of the state. Controversy over the company's role as a nonprofit previously aired in 2015 as it sought approval from the department for its $1.2-billion purchase of Care1st, a Medicaid health plan. Blue Shield has disputed Johnson's claims, noting that the state has determined it is not subject to the rules governing charitable nonprofits. In the Jan. 8 announcement of its restructuring, Blue Shield also disclosed that it was forming a for-profit subsidiary called Stellarus that would provide services to other health plans, such as delivering drugs to patients more inexpensively than pharmacy benefit managers. Ascendiun is structured as a nonprofit and Blue Shield and the company's Medi-Cal insurer, Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan — the former Care1st — also would continue as nonprofits, the insurer said at the time. 'This structure is not uncommon among health plans, as many across the country — including other nonprofit Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies — have made similar corporate reorganizations to better serve their membership,' the insurer said in its statement to The Times. Blue Shield was established in 1939 by the California Medical Assn. as the nation's first prepaid health plan to cover physician bills. It followed the creation of the first Blue Cross plan, in Texas, to pay for hospital bills. The California insurer did not pay federal taxes until a change in the law in 1986. And it was exempt from state taxes until the Franchise Tax Board revoked that status in August 2014 after a scathing audit that The Times first reported. The audit found that Blue Shield was operating similarly to a for-profit company, with executives instructed to 'maximize profitability.' The tax board also found that the insurer had stockpiled 'extraordinarily high surpluses' even as it failed to offer enough public benefits, such as more affordable coverage. Blue Shield denied the accusations but ultimately relinquished its tax-exempt status, even as it has continued to pursue an appeal of an order requiring it to pay more than $100 million in back taxes. Johnson contends that the new corporate structure will allow Blue Shield to move its assets around in pursuit of its business goals with little oversight beyond maintaining required reserves — especially given its parent company's incorporation in Delaware, a business-friendly state where most Fortune 500 companies are registered. The DMHC strengthened reserve requirements in approving the deal and it now totals about $2.1 billion, according to a regulatory filing, which Johnson says would allow Blue Shield to transfer about $2.4 billion to Ascendiun. Charles Bell, a healthcare advocate who was involved in last decade's debate over Blue Shield's charitable obligations, is troubled by the decision to establish an out-of-state parent. 'I think that the changes in corporate structure that were made are highly concerning, and it should have received a much higher level of public scrutiny and a lot more skepticism by the Department of Managed Health Care,' said Bell, advocacy programs director for Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports. The department said in its response to The Times that it 'may hold public meetings if a transaction meets certain requirements to qualify as a major transaction. Upon due consideration, the Department determined that the specific facts of this restructuring did not meet the criteria set out in law to hold a public meeting.' Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans have a long history of restructuring, including Blue Cross of California. That insurer broke ground when in 1993 it spun off a recently established for-profit subsidiary, Wellpoint Health Networks. Blue Cross was later required to distribute $3.2 billion to a pair of new nonprofits, the California Endowment and the California Health Care Foundation, which are still operating. Less than a decade later, Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in more than dozen other states had converted to for-profits, typically highly controversial proposals, given questions about what was to become of their billions of dollars of assets. More recently, the nonprofits have converted into mutual insurance holding companies. That allows them to maintain their nonprofit status while funding for-profit ventures, such as in technology, said Brendan Bridgeland, an attorney with the Center for Insurance Research in Cambridge, Mass. What is unusual about Blue Shield of California's restructuring, he said, is that the DMHC allowed it to establish an out-of-state parent company. 'Once you reach the point where the subsidiary starts transferring money up to the parent and it gets reallocated, then it's going to be out of their control,' Bridgeland said. Johnson's concerns are rooted in efforts last decade by healthcare advocates to have Blue Shield declared a charitable organization and to dig into its assets to improve patient care as a condition of its approval to acquire Care1st. Johnson worked at Blue Shield from 2003 until 2015, when he resigned to mount a public campaign to pressure the insurer over its nonprofit mission. Johnson has been involved in litigation with his former employer, which sued him in 2015 alleging he disclosed confidential information, including Blue Shield's communications with the Franchise Tax Board. In a settlement, he agreed to no longer retain or disseminate such documents. In seeking to retain its state tax-exemption during its audit by the board, which began in 2013, Blue Shield argued that should it dissolve, its assets could be distributed only to another nonprofit. Yet, the insurer told the DMHC, when the agency reviewed the proposed acquisition in 2015, that as a nonprofit mutual-benefit corporation it served only its enrollees and had no such obligations. Ultimately, the department decided that Blue Shield did not have the charitable obligations though it required the insurer, in approving the acquisition that year, to refrain from making 'misleading or inconsistent' statements regarding the distribution of its assets if it ever were dissolved. 'Through this process there have been inconsistencies in what Blue Shield has said. It was frustrating because we had to spend a lot of time and energy to make sure what was true,' the department's then director, Shelley Rouillard, said at the time. The insurer pledged as part of the Care1st acquisition to spend $200 million over the next decade on several initiatives aimed at providing better patient care. Nevertheless, patient advocates criticized the DMHC's finding that Blue Shield did not have charitable obligations, saying the state lost the opportunity to regulate how the insurer spent its billions in assets — and then failed to impose tougher conditions on the insurer, such as limiting its ability to impose rate increases deemed unreasonable. In his March letter, Johnson called on the DMHC to require Blue Shield to spend annually at least 5% of its total assets on community benefits, which might go, for example, to grants to community clinics in underserved areas of the state. Blue Shield defended its charitable spending, noting that it caps its annual profit at 2% and allocates additional revenue to such services as delivering COVID vaccines at no cost to the state, and funding nonprofits that advance mental health. 'Blue Shield … has consistently supported its members and California communities throughout the state,' the company said. Johnson also contends newly public documents show Blue Shield has continued to argue before state tax authorities that it is a charitable trust. In the opening brief of its back taxes case in 2020, the insurer cites a state Supreme Court case that it said confirms 'Blue Shield operates exclusively for the promotion of social welfare,' his letter notes. Blue Shield told The Times that it has provided 'consistent information to DMHC about its corporate restructuring' and that Johnson's letter provided 'no new evidence' regarding Blue Shield's status as a 'tax-paying not-for-profit mutual benefit corporation.' Johnson and the DMHC traded additional letters last week, with Johnson questioning why the department had not reviewed the new tax appeal documents or why they had not reviewed Ascendiun's articles of incorporation or bylaws prior to approving the restructuring. Janet Rickershauser, a nonprofits lawyer at Hurwit & Associates, said that the bylaws are important to understanding the parent company's operations, including the relationship of the subsidiaries to each other and the holding parent company. In a letter sent June 23 to Johnson, Jonathon Williams, an assistant chief counsel at the DMHC, said the department concluded it was 'not necessary or appropriate' to review the tax-appeal documents in its review of Blue Shield's application to restructure nor conduct a 'full evaluation of Delaware's corporation statutory scheme.' The department told The Times that it conducted a 'comprehensive review' of the articles of incorporation of Blue Shield and its Medicaid Promise Health Plan as required by state law. Although it did not review Ascendiun's bylaws or articles of incorporation, the department said it retained its regulatory authority over Blue Shield. Blue Shield said it would not release it bylaws because they are 'confidential company documents.' However, Rickershauser said that 'hiding the ball on the bylaws is preventing transparency into important aspects of how they're operating.'
Newsweek
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- Newsweek
Shelter Shows Sad Reality Owners Don't See After Surrendering Their Pet
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. An animal shelter has shown the heartbreaking scenes owners giving up their pet don't get to witness. The Humane Animal Treatment Society (HATS), a non-profit welfare organization which provides animal care, adoption and spay and neutering services, has gained a lot of online attention after showcasing what happens behind the scenes when a pet is surrendered. In a video to their TikTok account @hatsmtp1 on June 21, viewed more than 2.3 million times, they showed "what you don't see after you surrender your pet," as a fluffy gray cat hides inside a litter box after being surrendered by his family. They wrote in a caption that Smokey the cat "spent the day hiding in his litter box, terrified and crying out for his family"—and sure enough, the distressed cat repeatedly lets out high-pitched, long meows, while appearing to try and make himself as small as possible. "Smokey's story is, unfortunately, not uncommon," a spokesperson for the Michigan-based rescue told Newsweek. Smokey the cat hides in his litter box after being surrendered to a shelter by his family. Smokey the cat hides in his litter box after being surrendered to a shelter by his family. TikTok @hatsmtp1 "While every animal reacts differently to being surrendered, many experience deep distress and confusion—especially in the early days. They've lost the familiarity of their home, their routine, and most importantly, the people they trusted. "No matter how much we work to create a calm and caring environment, a shelter can never fully replicate the feeling of 'home.'" They added, however, that Smokey is beginning to open up, warming up to staff members "as we give him space, patience, and gentle encouragement," and he is "starting to show his sweet personality when he feels safe." There are myriad reasons a pet owner might give up their animal, the MATS spokesperson said—they may not have understood a breed or the long-term commitment when they first get an animal. "I'd say this is the case for a lot of our surrender intakes at our facility. We have many animals at or under only a year or two old," they admitted. There are also, however, beloved pets forced to be surrendered due to "heartbreaking, unforeseen life changes—like illness, eviction, or financial hardship—that leave them with no other option." "We don't believe in judging individuals for their circumstances. Our goal with the video was never to shame, but to raise awareness of what animals go through during such transitions. They are sentient beings who feel grief, confusion, and longing." Smokey's video prompted a rush of support from animal lovers, who awarded the clip more than 355,000 likes, one writing: "It makes me even sadder cause he doesn't understand why this happened." "This completely destroyed me eternally," another admitted, as another asked: "How can someone just abandon their family member?" And while many shared their anger at whoever gave Smokey up, or could surrender any animal, one pointed out the owner could have "had to give the cat up because of a terminal illness. "Not everyone is cruel and cold-hearted when they give up a pet, sometimes they have no choice," they wrote. HATS believes society needs to "shift toward more responsible pet ownership", from spaying and neutering to properly researching a breed, avoiding puppy mills and impulse purchases, and asking plenty of questions about an animal's personality and quirks if adopting from a shelter. Read more Saddest reason family had to surrender dog they loved "so much" Saddest reason family had to surrender dog they loved "so much" "For those who do choose to go through a breeder, it's critical to work with ethical breeders who conduct health testing, participate in titling, breed to breed standard—no 'exotic' or 'rare' colors or designer mixes—and require a return-to-breeder contract to ensure animals don't end up in shelters," they said. "When rehoming is truly necessary, we encourage people to exhaust all other options first—such as arranging temporary care with a friend, seeking help for behavioral issues, or responsibly rehoming with someone they trust—before turning to a shelter." In 2024 alone, 5.8 million dogs and cats entered shelters and rescues across the United States, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). An estimated 4.2 million shelter animals were adopted, including 2.2 million cats, however there is an ongoing capacity crisis limiting space for new animals. "Our community plays a vital role in supporting this mission," the HATS spokesperson told Newsweek. "Donations, volunteer time, fostering, and advocacy help us continue to provide second chances to animals like Smokey every single day." For more information on Smokey, or any other of HATS' animals, visit their website. Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@ with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
Buzz Feed
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- Buzz Feed
This Affordable Moisturizer Is *Incredibly* High Rated
To make the claim that something is 'the best' takes a lot of consideration and research on our part. But, after several praises sung by experts in skincare, tons of positive ratings and some of the most convincing testimonies from people like myself, it's finally time for us to name the original CeraVe Moisturizing Cream as the best moisturizer out there to date. We've given this unassuming and ubiquitous hydrator this title for reasons such as its accessible price point and its truly all-purpose usage that's compatible with even the most sensitive skin types. However, after a dermatologist that we interviewed for a recent story said that the CeraVe cream was one of their 'favorite moisturizers in the entire world,' we knew it was more than just a good product. When board-certified and Texas-based dermatologist Dr. Seemal R. Desai at Innovative Dermatology previously spoke to HuffPost about the best products to manage crepey skin, he explained that moisturizers with thick emollients are what help to replace the ceramides and lipid concentration in the skin, which can help with overall hydration. And like all of the products in CeraVe's line, be it their cult-favorite face washes or targeted serums, this custard-like cream is formulated with three essential ceramides that are fundamental for not just hydration, as mentioned earlier, but for helping to maintain a healthy skin barrier. The formula also contains hyaluronic acid, a tried-and-true humectant that draws moisture into the skin. As a long time sufferer of this common skin condition, I can personally attest to how beneficial the CeraVe Moisturizing Cream has been to managing any irritation, redness and flaking that occurs. In fact, it's the only moisturizer I've continuously used on my body for the past decade because I know it won't exacerbate my incredibly dry and finicky epidermis. Other users of this $14 cream have made similar claims as myself and have even attributed the formula for improving the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and managing painful skin cracking brought on by the winter elements. Others state that it's the perfect priming layer to wear underneath makeup. As if these assuring words and endless endorsements from dermatologists weren't enough, you can read on to just a few of the promising reviews we found for the CeraVe cream, a product that might be one of the highest rated items we've seen on Amazon. Or grab yourself a long-lasting 8- or 19-ounce tub from any of the above retailers. Get it from Amazon for $13.52+ (available in two sizes).
