Overlooking Rattlesnake Canyon, down a private road at the foot of Loma Ridge, and halfway through the Rattlesnake wash to the reservoir, the All American Asphalt plant has been sitting in a nature preserve since the early 1900s. Orange County approved the territory before incorporating it into the city of Irvine. According to a former city planner Robert Johnson, this “unattended consequence” causes a series of legal battles between the surrounding residents and the related responsible authorities.

Amid the pandemic, in 2020, Orchard Hill residents Lesley Tan and Kevin Lien worked to uncover the origin of a mysterious black plume and unbearable odor they have noticed frequently. What they found was the factory, about 2,000 feet away from where they live.

“[The odor] is very inconvenient and it’s concerning because, since we moved here, we can’t really keep our windows open at all times,” says Tan, one of the co-founders of Stop Toxic Asphalt Pollutants in Irvine (STAP) and a mother of five boys, “ When the order is really bad, sometimes we have to drive our kids to school. We can’t allow them to bike or even walk to school because we do not know what's in the air. If it's toxic, if it's harmful to them. ” She shared her discovery on Facebook with nearby residents and petitioned the local government to re-examine or cease asphalt production. Soon, another resident in the nearby neighborhood of Northwood Pointe joined Tan’s call to action.

“When the air was bad, or we would see a dark plume over Canyon View Elementary, we just thought it was possibly a brush fire,” says Kim Konte, the founder of Non-Toxic Neighborhoods (NTN), a community group fighting for environmental justice. “The smells never made sense. It smells like burnt rubber.”

Since 1860, many immigrants have moved to California for a better future. Today, almost 40% of Irvine’s population consists of immigrants from Mexico, the Philippines, China and other countries. The Konte family is one of them.

“We knew nothing about California. We never lived in California before. So We selected Irvine for schools and safety, only to find out that Irvine, specifically North Irvine, is not safe for children at all,”says Kim Konte, who moved to the area from Bermuda nine years ago.

Last year, the Kontes moved to South Carolina due to health concerns. “It was difficult because my son is a senior now in high school,” Konte says. “He didn’t want to leave his friends, but Northwood High School is only a mile away from the plant.”

Asphalt is a refined product from petroleum. The production process may release toxicants such as lead, nickel, cobalt and benzene. While there’s no specific study from the Irvine Department of Health conducted on asphalt, according to the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services , inhaling asphalt fumes can cause eye irritation, coughing, headaches and nausea, which children in the proximate area have complained about with itchy eyes and disgusting smells.

“The process of making asphalt is known to release a lot of air toxins,” says Jill Johnston, associate professor of Environment Health at the Keck School of Medicine at USC. “Formaldehyde, toluene, particulate matter and all of this air pollution can potentially be harmful for either workers inside or people living nearby. They’ve been associated with cancer, with sort of adverse respiratory outcomes and reproductive health as well.”

South Coast Air Quality District Management (SCAQMD) asked the asphalt plant to submit a Health Risk Assessment (HRA), a collection of health information typically recorded through a biometric testing process to assess an individual’s health status, risks and habits, based on the approved Air Toxics Inventory Report (ATIR) in 2016. The All American Asphalt filed the report five years later.

After SCAQMD reviewed the assessment report submitted by All American Asphalt, some toxic chemicals, such as nickel, formaldehyde and benzene emissions, exceeded indicated levels that aren't safe for the surrounding community and the plant was forced to notify the area neighborhood via email. Even though it’s the lowest health risk level, it caused SCAQMD to demand another Health Risk Assessment from All American Asphalt, but the plant failed to meet the standard again from SCAQMD.

Later, the revised HRA was conditionally approved by SCAQMD in August 2022, which found potential “non-cancer related health impacts” 300 feet southwest of the facility, primarily nickel emissions. According to SCAQMD, the limited access area does not impact the nearby residents, but due to the odd nature of this location, the public has access to hike and tour the nature preserve near the plant. The closest hikes are Loma Ridge and Limestone Canyon Regional Park, which are popular in the neighborhood.

In the city zoning map from March 2014, no specific sign indicates the All American Asphalt factory lies in the middle of a nature preserve. Instead, the map uses a square to represent the plant’s occupancy with no obvious interpretation of the labeling.

The asphalt plant had been in the middle of a valley for years before Irvine planned it as a part of a nature preserve; before the developer, Irvine Company, bought out the land and built a residential area near it.

Former director of community development of Irvine, who was in charge of the city planning, building, environmental, engineering, transportation and managing, Robert Johnson, comments: “[The asphalt factory] an unattended consequence to allow that to happen, knowing that these [nearby] residential would be developed...”

According to Irvine City Manager Oliver Chi, the cross-jurisdiction permit and agreement over All American Asphalt were made before that piece of land was incorporated into the city of Irvine. It’s now the state’s and SCAQMD’s responsibility to regulate the plant to meet federal health standards.

Moreover, the city has drafted a settlement agreement and is exploring different solutions to negotiate with the facility, including relocation. Yet, the tentative plan has not been approved by the city.

The community is not so happy with the progress made by city officials. “We were just at the city hall trying to get the city council not to move ahead with the settlement agreement they came up with because it was a total joke,” Tan said. After review by a lawyer representing the neighborhood, Tan said, “[the settlement agreement] is going to waive our rights of suing [All American Asphalt], pretty much removing them from any liabilities that they had created in the past.”

The Orchid Hill community is just one of many cases impacted by industrial pollution in the United States. Closer to Southern California, 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, the Santa Susana Laboratory polluted and radiated the land and endangered the adjacent residents for decades. The health hazard was uncovered decades later.

Facing liability at this scale, Boeing promised to clean up the area to meet the liveable standard in 2007, but the plan fell through. Now, the company is using the land as a nature preserve, which leaves others untouched through legal agreements.

The battle between the Northern Irvine community and All American Asphalt continues after more than 800 odor complaints. One of the first Orchid Hill residents, Kevin Lein, says: “As a medical doctor, I understand the health risks associated with inhaling those cancer-causing chemicals every day, especially for children. Imagine how parents in my neighborhood feel when our kids come home with nose bleeds, headaches and respiratory problems after riding their bikes down the street.”

Natural Disasters

In a social media post on a Chinese platform, Red, real estate agent Mark Zhong analyzes the risk of living in the Orchard Hill community. He notes that residents not only have to deal with asphalt odor sometimes but also be alert to wildfires and earthquakes, especially in southern California.

In 2020, the Silverado wildfire forced approximately 90,000 people in North Irvine to abandon their houses and belongings to evacuate, and the entire city was shrouded in thick smoke. The dense fog from the fire drifted with the wind to the seaside of Laguna Beach. Later, the collateral damage from the wildfire caused several mudslides. The Orchard Hill community was on the front line of the fire when the wildfire moved toward California state route 241, pressing the community. Fortunately, the efforts of the firefighters and the avocado orchard saved all properties intact.

“When many agents are asked about [the asphalt plant], they all say that the factory will move away.” Mark writes. With the unsolved asphalt factory issue undergoing, Irvine Company has begun the final neighborhood construction in the lower east side of the All American Factory, next to the Rattlesnake Reservoir. “The location of this new development is at the downwind of the asphalt plant, and the new community is planned to be a luxury mansion. It is estimated that it will start selling in early 2024. The opening price will probably increase crazily.” Mark Zhong notes. Mark hopes the new immigrants and prospective residents can “make informed decisions” when buying a new house in an unfamiliar neighborhood.