In summary
Long Beach residents near companies that use methyl bromide are angry that air quality officials didn’t notify them for years and haven’t assessed their health risks. Now officials say more facilities are operating in San Pedro and Compton.
At least six fumigation facilities in southeast Los Angeles County have been using a toxic pesticide that could be harming people, yet air quality regulators have not analyzed the health risks in nearby communities.
West Long Beach residents have been angry since January, when they learned that potentially dangerous levels of methyl bromide used by two facilities were found near an elementary school — five years after the fumes were first detected by air quality officials.
Then, on Thursday night, at a virtual community meeting, officials of the South Coast Air Quality Management District revealed that four more facilities, located in Compton and San Pedro, are also using the chemical — at much larger volumes than two West Long Beach facilities.
Homes are located near the San Pedro and Compton fumigation businesses, but air quality officials said they do not have plans to monitor the air there.
State health officials have classified methyl bromide as a reproductive toxicant, which means it can harm developing babies exposed in the womb. In the short term, high levels can cause headaches, dizziness, nausea and difficulty breathing, while exposure over a year or more could cause more serious neurological effects, such as difficulties with learning and memory.
“Every day…there was an explosion in this neighborhood and nobody knew where it came from, because it was silent,” said Theral Golden, a longtime West Long Beach resident and community advocate in an interview. “So how do you know what’s causing your illness? We should be in crisis mode, and everybody wants to act like everything is okay.”
Methyl bromide is used by the companies to kill harmful pests on imported fruits and vegetables that arrive through the region’s ports. The fumigant was widely used on crops, especially strawberries, for decades, but was banned internationally for most uses in 1987 under a United Nations treaty that protects the Earth’s ozone layer. Exemptions are granted for fumigation of produce shipped from overseas.
The two West Long Beach facilities — AG Fume Service and San Pedro Forklift, also known as SPF Logistics — are just a few hundred feet away from homes and Elizabeth Hudson Elementary School.
Daniel McCarrel, an attorney representing AG Fume, which also operates a facility in San Pedro, said the company has complied with its permits and has been open to making changes.
“We have cooperated with the agencies every step of the way to reduce any potential impact that our operations may have on…our workers and the community,” he said. “We believe that our operations are safe and that we’re doing the best that can be done.”
Greg Augustine, owner of Harbor Fumigation, said his business in San Pedro is permitted and complies with local, state and federal requirements. He said he will be cooperating with air quality regulators if they request more information about his operation.
“In all processes in life you have to balance the cost and the benefits,” Augustine said. “We grow a lot of grapes in California. This process is designed to protect those grapes from (pest) species that exist in South America but do not exist in North America and would be harmful to domestic agriculture.”
A general manager of San Pedro Forklift declined to answer questions from CalMatters.
Global Pest Management, which has fumigation facilities in Compton and Terminal Island near San Pedro, did not respond to calls.
Global Pest Management’s Compton facility is near the 710 Freeway, with residential neighborhoods on both sides. It used 11,626 pounds of methyl bromide in 2022, more than double what volumes used at the West Long Beach facilities, according to data provided by the South Coast district at the meeting on Thursday.
“We grow a lot of grapes in California. This process is designed to protect those grapes from (pest) species that exist in South America but do not exist in North America and would be harmful to domestic agriculture.”
Greg Augustine, owner of Harbor Fumigation
AG Fume and Harbor Fumigation, located at the same address in San Pedro, collectively used nearly 40,000 pounds of methyl bromide in 2022, according to the data. That’s seven to eight times more than the two businesses in West Long Beach. The facility is near San Pedro’s 22nd Street Park and neighborhoods to the west.
The South Coast district provided information about the four facilities on Thursday after residents had earlier expressed concerns about whether more businesses use the fumigant.
No air monitoring has been conducted at the four Compton and San Pedro sites.
In West Long Beach, California Air Resources Board monitors detected spikes of methyl bromide as high as 983 and 966 parts per billion in February and March of 2024. At 1,000 ppb, methyl bromide can cause acute health effects, such as nausea and dizziness, air quality officials said.
The average concentration found at the West Long Beach sites was 2.1 ppb in 2023 through part of 2024; breathing as little as 1 ppb for a year or more can cause serious health effects, according to the California Air Resources Board. In March, the average monthly concentrations were the third highest since the state air board started monitoring in 2023.
Air quality officials told residents at Thursday’s community meeting that the West Long Beach school is not within the area that could experience health effects, although 50 homes are.
However, a monitor deployed by the South Coast district near the elementary school in 2019 as part of a regional air toxics study found methyl bromide concentrations of 1.14 ppb, above the threshold for chronic health impacts. Yet the air district didn’t notify school officials about the elevated levels until January of this year.
In California, permitting for methyl bromide is often administered by air quality districts. But in the Los Angeles region, the air district delegated much of that responsibility to the Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner in a 1996 agreement.
In response to a public records request, a spokesperson said the county agency follows Department of Pesticide Regulation guidelines for its permitting process.
Maximiliano Regis, chief deputy of the agricultural commissioner, said during the first public meeting in January that the air district didn’t notify the county agricultural commissioner about the elevated levels until July 2024. Spokesperson Michael de Los Reyes declined to answer additional questions.
In 2024, the county commissioner imposed new permit conditions on the two west Long Beach facilities to reduce exposure. Included are closing doors and ventilating fumes higher in the air so it won’t be disbursed in high concentrations at ground level. The Compton and San Pedro facilities, however, do not have the same air quality controls in place.
West Long Beach community advocates have asked air regulators to install more monitors and analyze health risks from the last 30 years when methyl bromide has been used there.
The South Coast district conducted a preliminary assessment determining which facilities could affect communities based on 2022 volume use data, weather patterns and proximity to residential neighborhoods. They said they will continue collecting data on the emissions to determine whether a health risk assessment should be conducted.
Whitney Amaya, a West Long Beach resident and member of East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, said the agencies need to do a better job of protecting communities at risk.
“It’s just bad news after bad news,” said Whitney Amaya, a West Long Beach resident and member of East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice. “These are our lives, right? These are our family members, our neighbors that live here, and it’s the future generation, it’s kids. We can’t normalize these operations and just say it’s okay to continue doing business as is.”
