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Los Angeles Times
12 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Fireworks are out of control in L.A. Here are 5 things experts wish you knew
One thing I still can't get used to living in L.A. is the Bayhem-level of firepower Angelenos bring to bear on the Fourth of July. My neighbors have already started setting them off. By all accounts — and there are many — we are living in the illegal firework capital of the United States. That's not just because all fireworks are illegal in the City of Los Angeles, which the doctors, public safety officials and pollution experts I talked to about their dangers are at pains to point out. Many immigrant Angelenos come from cultures where DIY fireworks are common, and we're an easy drive from places where they're cheap and legal. With few exceptions, the penalty for setting off professional-grade pyrotechnics is small and difficult to enforce. Nationwide, the problem is much bigger now than it ever was. In 2024, almost 15,000 Americans were treated for firework-related injuries — a jump of more than 50% from the year prior, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. In 2025 alone, Cal Fire and its partner agencies have confiscated more than 600,000 pounds of illegal fireworks. Still, the folks who most want you to stop buying M80s — city managers, ER doctors, Smokey the Bear — know their pleas fall on deaf ears. The quest to save fingers, lungs, palm trees and the state budget from fireworks was described to me as 'quixotic' and 'Sisyphean.' Even January's firestorm is unlikely to tame our passion for pyrotechnics, they said. At least one expert told me he thinks 2025 will be 'worse than it's ever been,' describing fireworks as a kind of Freudian pressure valve for communities on edge. Here are five things experts wish you knew about your cache of emotional-support explosives. 'We have among the worst air quality in the country on the night of July 4 into July 5,' Dr. Scott Epstein of the South Coast Air Quality Management District said. 'Over the past 15 years, we have seen an upward trend.' Remember those two dozen semitrucks worth of confiscated fireworks I mentioned earlier? Golden State taxpayers foot the bill to ship them to Ohio, Hawaii and Massachusetts to dispose of. 'Think about packaging up a couple thousand pounds of fireworks and sending them to Ohio — it's going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars,' said Cmdr. David Barrett, head of MySafe:LA. Multiply that a couple hundred thousand times, you're looking at a budget black hole. 'The number one thing kids tell us is: 'We don't want fireworks, but our parents bought them,'' Barrett told me. 'The message doesn't need to be for kids, it needs to be for parents,' he said. 'Something like: 'How do you feel about your kid having four fingers?'' 'The things I've seen the most are loss of a finger or a hand, or severe damage to the eye,' said Dr. Jeremy Swisher, a sports medicine doctor in the orthopedics department at UCLA. 'Burns are the most common.' Many of those burns come from sparklers. 'When it's over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, holding it for a few seconds can cause a lot of damage,' the doctor explained. 'It can cause deeper burns into the skin, which can lead to the need for skin grafting, many surgeries and needing to stay in the hospital for a week or more.' 'If you look forward to the next three years, we have the World Cup, the Super Bowl, and the year after that we have the Olympics,' Barrett said. 'They're all summer events, so the potential for out-of-control fireworks is significant.' 'The last thing we need is for the Hollywood Hills to burn down because of fireworks.' Today's great photo is from Times contributor Yasara Gunawardena. This year's jacaranda bloom in L.A. was short a few trees following the January wildfires, but experts say many burned trees will recover. Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editorAndrew Campa, Sunday writerKarim Doumar, head of newsletters How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
Los Angeles Times
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
No more fireworks? Big change coming to 4th of July at Pasadena's Rose Bowl
Marking the end of a longtime tradition, the Fourth of July celebration at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena will not feature a fireworks show this year. Instead, there will be a drone show. The move comes as some venues have switched from fireworks to drone shows — in which a fleet of drones performs a choreographed light show — to celebrate the 4th of July. But drone shows have fallen flat for some. Notably Redondo Beach and Laguna Beach switched back to fireworks after trying out drone shows, and some promoters of fireworks shows have voiced criticism over efforts to transition to drone shows. For Pasadena, it's a big change — the Rose Bowl Independence Day fireworks show was touted as one of the largest in the region, and was viewable not only in the stadium but also the surrounding area. A soccer match preceded the fireworks show on the last two July 4th holidays. Before that, the Rose Bowl fireworks were the highlight of the decades-old AmericaFest celebration, but AmericaFest ended following substantial financial losses, according to news reports. Other than the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, 'this is the first time in many, many years — I've been here 23 years — and this is first year where we will have no fireworks at the Rose Bowl,' Pasadena city spokesperson Lisa Derderian said at a news briefing Wednesday. 'There will be a drone show. If you attend the event, you won't be able to see it from outside the Rose Bowl area.' In a further change, there won't be a soccer match this year at the Rose Bowl on Independence Day. A Galaxy-LAFC match was held in 2023 and 2024. Instead, the venue will host the food-and-entertainment festival FoodieLand. Derderian urged people not to head to the area surrounding the Rose Bowl, unless they have a ticket for FoodieLand. The change comes amid concerns about fireworks causing unhealthful air. The South Coast Air Quality Management District has previously said pollution levels of fine particles soar on July 4 and 5 — the worst of the year. Fireworks shows remain a staple in other parts of California, including in San Diego and San Francisco. But in Long Beach, this year may be the last Big Bang on the Bay fireworks show. The California Coastal Commission approved a permit for the event on May 9 with a major proviso. From 2026 to 2029, the 20-minute pyrotechnic display, which launches from a barge in Alamitos Bay, will be dropped in favor of a drone show. 'This year could be the final year of fireworks over the bay,' said the event's website, which says the event raises money for nonprofits that benefit Long Beach's youth. Big Bang on the Bay has been held annually since 2011, after the city of Long Beach ended fireworks displays at Veterans Stadium in north Long Beach, according to a Coastal Commission staff report. In its presentation, commission staff said birds were disturbed during past fireworks displays and that 'a recent study concluded that fireworks can result in nest abandonment, caused fledging birds to fall out of nests, and cause birds to experience disrupted sleep and increased distress, vigilance and fear.' Staff also expressed concerns about fireworks debris landing in the environment and concluded that 'a drone show would result in fewer adverse environmental impacts.' John Morris, the organizer of the event and a restaurant owner, told commissioners at the May 9 meeting he was skeptical that the community would be as willing to donate significant money for future drone shows. 'I just have the mindset, I'm a fireworks guy. And I raised the money from all the houses around the bay,' Morris said at the meeting. 'I got 300 houses around the bay to write checks. ... Will half of them write a check for drones? I don't know. If this is what it means, I'll try it.' But he noted that both Redondo Beach and Laguna Beach returned to fireworks after trying out drone shows. 'I love watching a drone show,' he said. 'I've seen a couple of them. They're great, but they're not July 4th.' Justin Cummings, the chair of the Coastal Commission during the May meeting, said that drone shows' emergence indicate they are a feasible alternative to fireworks. 'We are seeing drone shows pop up all over the country, and they're really demonstrating to be a successful alternative to fireworks,' Cummings, also a Santa Cruz County supervisor, said at the meeting. Cummings' tenure on the commission ended after the May meeting. Commissioners asked to be informed of any drop in financial support for the 2026 drone show as compared to previous fireworks shows. San Diego's Big Bay Boom has received permission from the Coastal Commission to continue with fireworks shows this year and in 2026 — which happens to be the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But commissioners in February required the organizers of the show to do a study of transitioning to drone shows or other alternatives to fireworks for 2027 and beyond. Coastal Commission staff said during last year's San Diego fireworks, California least terns and their fledglings became agitated and left their nest to run or fly; staff also said fireworks debris can impair water quality and that wildlife may entangle themselves in the debris, or ingest it. In the meantime, the Port of San Diego — one of the sponsors of the Big Bay Boom — has agreed to reduce the annual maximum weight of fireworks that can be launched this year from fireworks shows launched from the waters of San Diego Bay. Current Port of San Diego rules rules allow for up to 47 total fireworks shows over the course of a year, utilizing up to 9,056 pounds of fireworks, Coastal Commission staff said at the panel's February meeting. The port has agreed to reduce that annual weight total by 15% this year, representing a reduction of 1,358 pounds. The cap will be reduced by another 5% for 2026. 'All reduction will be from fireworks shows launched from coastal waters, as those are more impactful to water quality than shows launched from land,' according to commission staff. However, there were an average of 18 fireworks shows a year in San Diego Bay between 2021 and 2024 — far lower than the maximum number of shows allowed. Nevertheless, commission staff called the port's planned reduction in the cap of fireworks that can be launched from the water 'a good faith effort to lessen the impacts of fireworks in San Diego Bay and shift away from regular fireworks shows.' Times staff writer Karen Garcia contributed to this report.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Dangerous air quality affects multiple areas of Southern California
As if Southern Californians needed something else to worry about, dangerous air quality is threatening parts of the region. Hazardous air quality has been detected near La Cañada Flintridge and the Angeles National Forest, with very unhealthy air on the borders of that zone and in downtown Los Angeles, Bell, Bell Gardens, Commerce, and other areas in greater Los Angeles, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The AQMD hasn't pointed to a specific cause, though a few wildfires in Southern California have likely had an impact. It's also possible that, at least in the downtown Los Angeles location, the burning of Waymo vehicles may have played a role. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Miami Herald
10-06-2025
- Health
- Miami Herald
California's Salton Sea is emitting foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide gas, triggering health concerns
LOS ANGELES - On scorching days when winds blow across the California desert, the Salton Sea regularly gives off a stench of decay resembling rotten eggs. New research has found that the shrinking lake is emitting the foul-smelling gas hydrogen sulfide more frequently and at higher levels than previously measured. The findings document how the odors from the Salton Sea add to the air quality problems and health concerns in communities near the lake, where windblown dust drifts from exposed stretches of lakebed and where people suffer from high rates of asthma and other respiratory illnesses. "The communities around the Salton Sea are on the front lines of a worsening environmental health crisis," said Mara Freilich, a co-author of the study and assistant professor in Brown University's Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences. The Salton Sea is California's largest lake, covering more than 300 square miles in Imperial and Riverside counties. Hydrogen sulfide is released as a byproduct of decaying algae and other organic material in the lake, where accumulating fertilizers and other nutrients from agricultural runoff and wastewater feed the growth of algae. Hydrogen sulfide, or H2S, is toxic and studies have found that health effects of exposure at certain levels can include dizziness, headaches, vomiting, cough, chest tightness and depression. Although being exposed to high levels in the workplace is a widely known health hazard, less is known about the health effects of chronic exposure to the gas at lower levels. People who live near the Salton Sea, many of them farmworkers, have complained for years that the stench, which tends to emerge most strongly in August and September, can give them headaches, nausea and nosebleeds. Freilich and other researchers analyzed existing air-quality data from three monitoring stations maintained by the South Coast Air Quality Management District in Indio, Mecca and the reservation of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians. They worked with the local nonprofit group Alianza Coachella Valley to install an additional air-quality sensor on a wooden piling protruding from shallow water near the north shore. The sensor has often detected hydrogen sulfide at high levels. Examining data from different monitoring sites between May 1 and July 25, 2024, they found a striking contrast. Although the monitor on the Torres Martinez reservation detected hydrogen sulfide at levels exceeding the state air-quality standard for only four hours during that time, the sensor over the water found 177 hours with levels above the threshold. The scientists said their results indicate that a significant portion of the gas that's being released by the Salton Sea isn't being measured, even as the stench drifts through the area's predominantly Latino communities. "These findings highlight the need for improved air quality monitoring and more effective environmental management policies to protect public health in the region," the researchers wrote in the study, which was published May 31 in the journal GeoHealth. The Salton Sea lies about 242 feet below sea level in the Salton Trough, which over thousands of years has cycled between filling with Colorado River water and drying out. The lake was formed most recently in 1905-07, when the Colorado flooded the region, filling the low-lying basin. In the 1950s and '60s, the Salton Sea became a popular destination where tourists flocked to go fishing, boating and waterskiing. Celebrities including Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball visited the lake during its heyday. But lakeside communities deteriorated after flooding in the 1970s. Fishing waned as the lake grew too salty for introduced species such as corvina, and people stopped boating as the water quality worsened. The lake has for more than a century been sustained by water draining off farms in the Imperial Valley, but it has been shrinking since the early 2000s, when the Imperial Irrigation District began selling a portion of its Colorado River water to growing urban areas under an agreement with agencies in San Diego County and the Coachella Valley. The lake's level has declined about 13 feet since 2003. Its water is now about twice as salty as the ocean and continues to get saltier with evaporation. Bird populations have declined. Hydrogen sulfide builds up in the lower, oxygen-deprived layer of water in the lake as decaying algae and other material decompose. During the hottest times of year, a warm upper layer of water forms. Then, when winds churn up the lake, some of the deeper water can rise to the surface and release the stinky gas into the air. California's ambient air-quality standard is 30 parts per billion, averaged over one hour. The study found that under certain wind conditions, hydrogen sulfide levels were on average 17 parts per billion higher at the newly installed sensor over the water compared with an existing monitor near the shore. Sometimes, the sensor detected levels as high as about 200 parts per billion. People can detect the smell of the gas, however, at levels as low as 1 or 2 parts per billion. "Residents exposed to hydrogen sulfide are impacted not only in their physical health - experiencing respiratory irritation, headaches and fatigue - but as well in their quality of life," said Diego Centeno, the study's lead author, who conducted the research while studying at Brown University and is now a doctoral student at UCLA. "If you want to be active outside, go on a run or do something, and it smells like rotten eggs, you'd be more inclined not to," Centeno said. "Especially during summertime, nobody wants to go outside." Centeno grew up within sight of the Salton Sea in the low-income community of North Shore. He said he was always fascinated by the immense body of water, not knowing why he never saw anyone bathing or boating in it. "As water levels continue to decline, if nothing is done, this hydrogen sulfide gas really has the potential to grow," Centeno said. "So the more we understand, the more we can learn how to mitigate and restore the Salton Sea." The researchers said their findings highlight the need for increased air-quality monitoring around the Salton Sea, and for regulators to focus on hydrogen sulfide as a pollutant that affects people's health. Freilich said regional water regulators should prioritize setting of water-quality standards for the Salton Sea, a step that could lead to efforts to treat or reduce the nutrient levels of water flowing into the lake. "The water quality in the sea is affecting the air quality," she said. "It requires the attention of multiple agencies, because it is something that connects water quality and air quality, which are typically handled separately." The South Coast Air Quality Management District, or AQMD, regulates air pollution in the Coachella Valley, including the northern portion of the Salton Sea. In May, the agency installed a fourth monitor for hydrogen sulfide on the northeastern side of the lake. "This H2S monitoring network is very comprehensive," said Rainbow Yeung, an AQMD spokesperson, adding that there are currently only a few other monitors reporting such data in the country. Yeung said in an email that the sensor installed by the researchers is of a different type than the agency's monitors and "may have higher H2S readings as the location of the sensor is over the source of likely emissions, which can be dispersed and therefore may not be representative of levels experienced by the community." AQMD issues alerts whenever hydrogen sulfide levels reach the state standard of 33 ppb at any of the monitoring sites. (Residents can sign up to receive these air-quality alerts at The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has established a chronic exposure threshold for hydrogen sulfide of 8 parts per billion, a level at which long-term exposure over many years may begin to result in health effects. The highest annual average concentration at any of the AQMD monitoring sites since 2016 has been 5.5 parts per billion, and annual averages have typically been less than 3 parts per billion, levels at which health effects are not expected, Yeung said. The water that drains from Imperial Valley farmland and feeds the sea comes from the Colorado River. A quarter-century of mostly dry years compounded by climate change has prompted difficult negotiations among seven states over how to use less water from the dwindling river. As these talks examine water-saving solutions, Freilich said, policymakers should "account for the health impacts on communities" and prioritize steps that will help mitigate the problems. California officials recently sent water flowing from a pipe onto hundreds of acres of dry lake bed near the south shore, filling a complex of shallow ponds in an effort to create wetland habitat for fish and birds, and help control lung-damaging dust. It's not known how these new wetlands might affect emissions of hydrogen sulfide, and Freilich said she and her team plan additional studies focusing on wetlands and shallow-water areas. Consuelo Márquez, a Coachella resident who has helped with the research, said she lived for several years as a child in North Shore, where she got nosebleeds and experienced the rotten egg odor, a "really strong fishy smell." "I would wake up with blood on my pillow," she said. When she asked her father about it, she recalled him saying: "This happens because of the lake, because of the air." She said the study's results validate the concerns many people have been raising for years. Aydee Palomino, a co-author of the study and environmental justice project manager for the group Alianza Coachella Valley, said the study shows people are "breathing in pollutants that are under the radar of traditional monitoring systems." "This has the potential to have really far-reaching ramifications if it's not addressed," Palomino said. Funding for the research came from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Google's Environmental Justice Data Fund and NASA. But Freilich learned in March that the Trump administration had terminated the NASA grant under an order targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The researchers have an ongoing appeal of that decision, which Freilich said has been disruptive to ongoing work. "The community is who's going to suffer at the end of the day," Palomino said. "And it is unfortunate because now it comes back to us to fill in the research gaps." Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Salton Sea is emitting foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide gas, triggering health concerns
On scorching days when winds blow across the California desert, the Salton Sea regularly gives off a stench of decay resembling rotten eggs. New research has found that the shrinking lake is emitting the foul-smelling gas hydrogen sulfide more frequently and at higher levels than previously measured. The findings document how the odors from the Salton Sea add to the air quality problems and health concerns in communities near the lake, where windblown dust drifts from exposed stretches of lakebed and where people suffer from high rates of asthma and other respiratory illnesses. 'The communities around the Salton Sea are on the front lines of a worsening environmental health crisis,' said Mara Freilich, a co-author of the study and assistant professor in Brown University's Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences. The Salton Sea is California's largest lake, covering more than 300 square miles in Imperial and Riverside counties. Hydrogen sulfide is released as a byproduct of decaying algae and other organic material in the lake, where accumulating fertilizers and other nutrients from agricultural runoff and wastewater feed the growth of algae. Hydrogen sulfide, or H2S, is toxic and studies have found that health effects of exposure at certain levels can include dizziness, headaches, vomiting, cough, chest tightness and depression. Although being exposed to high levels in the workplace is a widely known health hazard, less is known about the health effects of chronic exposure to the gas at lower levels. People who live near the Salton Sea, many of them farmworkers, have complained for years that the stench, which tends to emerge most strongly in August and September, can give them headaches, nausea and nosebleeds. Read more: California turns on water to create new wetlands on the shore of the shrinking Salton Sea Freilich and other researchers analyzed existing air-quality data from three monitoring stations maintained by the South Coast Air Quality Management District in Indio, Mecca and the reservation of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians. They worked with the local nonprofit group Alianza Coachella Valley to install an additional air-quality sensor on a wooden piling protruding from shallow water near the north shore. The sensor has often detected hydrogen sulfide at high levels. Examining data from different monitoring sites between May 1 and July 25, 2024, they found a striking contrast. Although the monitor on the Torres Martinez reservation detected hydrogen sulfide at levels exceeding the state air-quality standard for only four hours during that time, the sensor over the water found 177 hours with levels above the threshold. The scientists said their results indicate that a significant portion of the gas that's being released by the Salton Sea isn't being measured, even as the stench drifts through the area's predominantly Latino communities. 'These findings highlight the need for improved air quality monitoring and more effective environmental management policies to protect public health in the region,' the researchers wrote in the study, which was published May 31 in the journal GeoHealth. The Salton Sea lies about 242 feet below sea level in the Salton Trough, which over thousands of years has cycled between filling with Colorado River water and drying out. The lake was formed most recently in 1905-07, when the Colorado flooded the region, filling the low-lying basin. In the 1950s and '60s, the Salton Sea became a popular destination where tourists flocked to go fishing, boating and waterskiing. Celebrities including Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball visited the lake during its heyday. But lakeside communities deteriorated after flooding in the 1970s. Fishing waned as the lake grew too salty for introduced species such as corvina, and people stopped boating as the water quality worsened. Read more: In the dust of the Coachella Valley, residents push for a park along the shrinking Salton Sea The lake has for more than a century been sustained by water draining off farms in the Imperial Valley, but it has been shrinking since the early 2000s, when the Imperial Irrigation District began selling a portion of its Colorado River water to growing urban areas under an agreement with agencies in San Diego County and the Coachella Valley. The lake's level has declined about 13 feet since 2003. Its water is now about twice as salty as the ocean and continues to get saltier with evaporation. Bird populations have declined. Hydrogen sulfide builds up in the lower, oxygen-deprived layer of water in the lake as decaying algae and other material decompose. During the hottest times of year, a warm upper layer of water forms. Then, when winds churn up the lake, some of the deeper water can rise to the surface and release the stinky gas into the air. California's ambient air-quality standard is 30 parts per billion, averaged over one hour. The study found that under certain wind conditions, hydrogen sulfide levels were on average 17 parts per billion higher at the newly installed sensor over the water compared with an existing monitor near the shore. Sometimes, the sensor detected levels as high as about 200 parts per billion. People can detect the smell of the gas, however, at levels as low as 1 or 2 parts per billion. 'Residents exposed to hydrogen sulfide are impacted not only in their physical health — experiencing respiratory irritation, headaches and fatigue — but as well in their quality of life,' said Diego Centeno, the study's lead author, who conducted the research while studying at Brown University and is now a doctoral student at UCLA. 'If you want to be active outside, go on a run or do something, and it smells like rotten eggs, you'd be more inclined not to,' Centeno said. 'Especially during summertime, nobody wants to go outside.' Centeno grew up within sight of the Salton Sea in the low-income community of North Shore. He said he was always fascinated by the immense body of water, not knowing why he never saw anyone bathing or boating in it. 'As water levels continue to decline, if nothing is done, this hydrogen sulfide gas really has the potential to grow,' Centeno said. 'So the more we understand, the more we can learn how to mitigate and restore the Salton Sea.' Read more: As California farms use less Colorado River water, worries grow over shrinking Salton Sea The researchers said their findings highlight the need for increased air-quality monitoring around the Salton Sea, and for regulators to focus on hydrogen sulfide as a pollutant that affects people's health. Freilich said regional water regulators should prioritize setting of water-quality standards for the Salton Sea, a step that could lead to efforts to treat or reduce the nutrient levels of water flowing into the lake. 'The water quality in the sea is affecting the air quality,' she said. 'It requires the attention of multiple agencies, because it is something that connects water quality and air quality, which are typically handled separately.' The South Coast Air Quality Management District, or AQMD, regulates air pollution in the Coachella Valley, including the northern portion of the Salton Sea. In May, the agency installed a fourth monitor for hydrogen sulfide on the northeastern side of the lake. 'This H2S monitoring network is very comprehensive,' said Rainbow Yeung, an AQMD spokesperson, adding that there are currently only a few other monitors reporting such data in the country. Yeung said in an email that the sensor installed by the researchers is of a different type than the agency's monitors and 'may have higher H2S readings as the location of the sensor is over the source of likely emissions, which can be dispersed and therefore may not be representative of levels experienced by the community.' AQMD issues alerts whenever hydrogen sulfide levels reach the state standard of 33 ppb at any of the monitoring sites. (Residents can sign up to receive these air-quality alerts at The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has established a chronic exposure threshold for hydrogen sulfide of 8 parts per billion, a level at which long-term exposure over many years may begin to result in health effects. Read more: Meager snowpack adds to Colorado River's woes, straining flows to Southern California The highest annual average concentration at any of the AQMD monitoring sites since 2016 has been 5.5 parts per billion, and annual averages have typically been less than 3 parts per billion, levels at which health effects are not expected, Yeung said. The water that drains from Imperial Valley farmland and feeds the sea comes from the Colorado River. A quarter-century of mostly dry years compounded by climate change has prompted difficult negotiations among seven states over how to use less water from the dwindling river. As these talks examine water-saving solutions, Freilich said, policymakers should 'account for the health impacts on communities' and prioritize steps that will help mitigate the problems. California officials recently sent water flowing from a pipe onto hundreds of acres of dry lake bed near the south shore, filling a complex of shallow ponds in an effort to create wetland habitat for fish and birds, and help control lung-damaging dust. It's not known how these new wetlands might affect emissions of hydrogen sulfide, and Freilich said she and her team plan additional studies focusing on wetlands and shallow-water areas. Consuelo Márquez, a Coachella resident who has helped with the research, said she lived for several years as a child in North Shore, where she got nosebleeds and experienced the rotten egg odor, a 'really strong fishy smell.' 'I would wake up with blood on my pillow,' she said. When she asked her father about it, she recalled him saying: 'This happens because of the lake, because of the air.' She said the study's results validate the concerns many people have been raising for years. Aydee Palomino, a co-author of the study and environmental justice project manager for the group Alianza Coachella Valley, said the study shows people are 'breathing in pollutants that are under the radar of traditional monitoring systems.' 'This has the potential to have really far-reaching ramifications if it's not addressed,' Palomino said. Funding for the research came from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Google's Environmental Justice Data Fund and NASA. But Freilich learned in March that the Trump administration had terminated the NASA grant under an order targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The researchers have an ongoing appeal of that decision, which Freilich said has been disruptive to ongoing work. 'The community is who's going to suffer at the end of the day,' Palomino said. 'And it is unfortunate because now it comes back to us to fill in the research gaps.' This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
