LOS ANGELES — Lineage hired the environmental firm Onterris to conduct air quality testing following a fire at its Los Angeles cold storage facility in June 2026. Onterris reported that air quality was "good" and hazardous gas levels were low.

The fire at the 500,000-square-foot facility began on June 17, 2026, and burned for one week, resulting in a state of emergency. Onterris stated it was called by Altus Power, the warehouse's rooftop solar panel owner, on June 20 and was on site starting June 21. The firm told CBS News that it conducted testing under the direction of federal officials.

Onterris published reports indicating it began "roaming community monitoring" and checking the air for heavy metals on June 23. Dr. Jill Johnston, a UC Irvine exposure scientist and environmental epidemiologist, is conducting independent tests with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice. Johnston said she believes no agencies, including Lineage contractors, monitored for volatile organic compounds and heavy metals during the initial days of the fire. "And the data hasn't been collected systematically," she said.

Lesley Pacey, an environmental investigator for the nonprofit Government Accountability Project, told CBS News, "It's like the fox guarding the henhouse." Johnston added, "Particularly because of the foam that's used to insulate the warehouses, when it burns there's potential for a lot of volatile organic compounds, toxic gases, to come out with the smoke."

Onterris underwent a rebrand in April 2026 from its former name, Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health (CTEH). The entity has existed for 29 years. In April, Onterris stated, "While the name has changed, the team, expertise, and services remain the same."

In 2023, following a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, Norfolk Southern hired CTEH for environmental testing. CTEH officials informed families that their homes were safe. In 2010, BP hired CTEH after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Onterris officials told CBS News the company "identified numerous situations where air quality was negatively impacted by the [Deepwater Horizon] spill" and its data "was used to ensure the protection of human health."

In 2008, after a coal ash dam controlled by the Tennessee Valley Authority broke, releasing over 1 billion gallons of sludge, CTEH tested the air and declared it safe. An Environmental Protection Agency audit later found that CTEH's Tennessee tests "failed to meet quality assurance procedures." Onterris told CBS News it was only contracted for the emergency response phase of that disaster, and the air data it collected was "confirmed as accurate and correct."

A federal monitoring station at Eastman Avenue Elementary School measured 755 micrograms per cubic meter of fine particles for over an hour on June 19. Emergency room visits for patients within 10 miles of the Lineage warehouse increased to three times the normal rate from June 17 through June 25, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.