L.A.'s ocean dumping reckoning continues

A discarded chemical barrel on the ocean floor.

By Ryan FonsecaStaff Writer

Feb. 21, 2024 6:30 AM PT

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Feb. 21. Here’s what you need to know to start your day.

L.A.’s ocean dumping reckoning continues
Rancho Palos Verdes leaders consider seeking state emergency declaration over landslides
Los Angeles is getting a new film festival
And here’s today’s e-newspaper

Radioactive waste was also dumped off the Los Angeles coast

The Los Angeles County coastline is renowned for its stunning views and famous beaches.

But move into deeper waters and another legacy comes into view: industrial waste dumped on a scale we’re just beginning to understand.

Using a deep-sea robot, UC Santa Barbara scientists discovered an eerie graveyard of leaking barrels in 2020, spread out on the seafloor near Santa Catalina Island. DDT, a powerful pesticide that was banned 50 years ago, was found in high concentrations near the barrels, leading scientists to suspect they were full of it. (Scientists later discovered that companies didn’t even bother putting DDT in barrels — they dumped it directly into the sea.)

The barrels may actually contain low-level radioactive waste, Times environment reporter Rosanna Xia revealed today.

“Records show that from the 1940s through the 1960s, it was not uncommon for local hospitals, labs and other industrial operations to dispose barrels of tritium, carbon-14 and other low-level radioactive waste at sea,” Rosanna reported.

That was a key finding in a new study from UC Santa Barbara’s David Valentine and his research team, published today in Environmental Science & Technology.

Researchers found clues while reviewing hundreds of pages of records, which indicated that a company tasked with pouring the DDT waste off the L.A. coast had also dumped low-level radioactive waste.

DDT is more widespread than previously known, and that’s worse news than the radioactive waste

Yes, this all sounds like the start of an ‘80s creature feature. As Valentine told Rosanna, the radioactive waste sitting down there is unequivocally terrible, but the “concerning concentrations” of DDT in the deep ocean are worse. Researchers have found high levels of DDT across an area of seafloor larger than the entire city of San Francisco, according to the new study.

“The question we grapple with now is how bad and how much worse,” he said.

DDT can be found in “significant amounts” up and down the marine food chain, Rosanna noted. That includes in critically endangered condors and California sea lions, some of which have cancer that researchers have linked to the compound.

And the magnitude of risk DDT poses to the marine ecosystem and human health is still unclear. Researchers have ramped up efforts to better understand that, helped in part by federal and state grants. But while scientists have been scanning for more DDT, they’ve found other dumping grounds, most recently a massive site with WWII-era munitions and other military waste.

For 35 years, the nation’s largest manufacturer of DDT was based in Los Angeles. As many as half a million barrels of DDT waste have not been accounted for, based on historical records, manifests and undigitized research reviewed by The Times.

Researchers have found what they’ve found so far “because they knew to look,” Rosanna wrote.

You can read Rosanna’s latest story here and catch up on The Times’ coverage of ocean dumping below.

L.A.’s coast was once a DDT dumping ground
History of DDT ocean dumping off L.A. coast even worse than expected, EPA finds
Scientists uncover startling concentrations of pure DDT along seafloor off L.A. coast
Massive dumping ground of WWII-era munitions discovered off Los Angeles coast

Today’s top stories

A construction worker walks along cracked pavement in Rancho Palos Verdes.

California storms

Rancho Palos Verdes leaders consider seeking state emergency declaration over landslides.
How freeing rivers can help California ease flood risks and revive ecosystems.
Flash flood warnings have been issued across L.A. County as intense rain pounded the region overnight.
After heavy storms, Death Valley is now open to kayakers: The return of ghostly Lake Manly.

Crime and courts

The Supreme Court turns down property rights challenge to rent control in New York and California.
Alabama Supreme Court rules frozen embryos are ‘children’ under state law.
Rebecca Grossman, accused of killing two boys with her SUV, will not testify in her trial.
The family of a man shot by LAPD over a plastic fork grapples with grief as video is released.

Politics

Homelessness in the Northwest Valley becomes a pressing issue in the city council race.
Ex-Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who is running for a spot on the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, has been suspended from social media site X after someone allegedly reported him for harassing his opponent in the race.
In the final primary debate, Senate candidates spar over Israel, immigration and campaign donations.
L.A. County has a new ballot processing facility. Here’s how you can observe.
LAUSD front-runner apologizes for liking antisemitic and pornographic social media posts.

More big stories

American Airlines is raising bag fees and changing how customers earn frequent-flier points.
Is widow Yulia Navalnaya the new face of Russian opposition?
Bedbugs check into some popular Las Vegas hotels. Guests may leave with new travel companions.
The Inland Empire’s once-unstoppable warehousing industry falls into a slump.
Anti-Scientology protests in L.A. bring arrests, attack allegations: ‘There’s a war going on.’
Russia detains Los Angeles woman, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen, on treason charges.

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Commentary and opinions

Robin Abcarian: Would you expect a firefighter to run into a burning building to save a frozen embryo?
Frank Shyong: Lunar New Year traditions were abstract until my grandmother died.
Gustavo Arellano: ‘This Fool’ got L.A. Latinos right. Who’s to blame for its cancellation?

Today’s great reads

Jimmy Kimmel rides in the back of a jeep as Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon) drives around the Oscar stage, both wearing goggles.

How Jimmy Kimmel preps for the Oscars and why the end of his talk show may be near. With two years left on his contract for ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” the 56-year-old comedian ponders walking away after 21 years. To do what? Well, he doesn’t quite know just yet.

Other great reads

Dressing Barbie was always the best part. Just ask costume designer Jacqueline Durran.
Ranking all the Oscar best picture years, worst to first, since the category expanded.
Goodbye carport, hello ADU: A tiny parking spot is reborn as a stunning live-work studio.

How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.

For your downtime

Micah Gottlieb, right, sits in a chair, and Sarah Winshall, stands to his left in front of a brick wall.

Going out

Los Angeles desperately needs a new film festival. They’re about to give it one.
On Friday, The Times’ Erika D. Smith will be in conversation with author Maxwell L. Stearns as part of Zócalo’s event series about voters’ experiences around the world in 2024. Join in-person or online.

Staying in

6 books to shake off colonialism and rethink our Latino stories.
🧑‍🍳 Here’s a recipe for coconut-habanero fish ceviche with poached shrimp.
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