Beach Smoke Study Generates Controversy

Byline: Ambrosia Brody HUNTINGTON BEACH — Opponents of a proposed a one-year prohibition on wood burning at beaches in Los Angeles County and Orange County had an opportunity to tell a South Air Coast Quality Management District (AQMD) board member why the fire rings should remain on local beaches during a special meeting, May 17. The meeting followed the release of data collected from the district’s two-month air quality sampling near fire pits at several of the region’s beaches. District employees deployed monitoring technologies and sampling strategies that included mobile sensors and stationary monitors to assess the particulate matter produced by beach bonfires. The samples were collected downwind of the rings during a single evening. The district’s primary conclusion is that beach fires produce fine particulate matter — which it refers to as PM 2.5 — at the beach, and that the impact extends into neighboring communities. It states that concentrations of PM 2.5 can be up to 10 times the normal background levels of airborne particulate matter at beach parking lots and up to three times the background levels in nearby residential locations. The AQMD shared the findings with local mayors and the public on May 15. For Newport Beach — the city that...