Latest news with #Haber
The National
15-04-2025
- Health
- The National
How the Emirati Genome Project could lead to major advances in personalised medicine
Abu Dhabi Global Health Week, which runs from Tuesday to Thursday, will turn the spotlight on the many innovations in personalised medicine, whre health care is tailored to the patient. Central to this is ensuring that preventive measures and treatments are adapted to a person's genetic make-up, contrasting with the one-size-fits-all approach typical in medicine. The UAE is well placed to roll out developments in personalised medicine thanks to the Emirati Genome Project, one of several such initiatives in the Gulf region. The aim of the project is to analyse the genomes – the complete set of genetic material – of as many UAE nationals as possible. Habiba Al Safar, dean of the College of Medical and Health Sciences at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi ‐ a researcher closely involved with the project – said that would 'generate a comprehensive reference map of the genetic make-up of the Emirati population'. Since the initiative was launched in 2020, more than 600,000 Emiratis have provided blood or cheek swabs so that their genomes can be sequenced, making it, Prof Al Safar said, 'the largest population-based genetic study in the region'. 'This scale not only highlights the UAE's commitment to advancing genomic research, but also ensures that the resulting data has exceptional depth and impact,' she added. Most genomic research has focused on people of European ancestry, said Marc Haber, associate professor in the Department of Cancer and Genomic Studies at the University of Birmingham's Dubai campus, leaving populations in the Middle East 'largely underexplored'. 'A lack of genetic studies in the Middle East has created significant data gaps that hinder progress in healthcare across the region,' he added. The Emirati population has, he said, a unique demographic and genomic history. While some of this is shared with neighbouring communities, Dr Haber said that 'a substantial portion' is distinct to Emiratis. Personalised medicine depends on understanding how genetic differences between people govern their susceptibility to disease and responses to treatment. 'With the advent of the Emirati Genome Project, health data scientists and bioinformaticians now have the opportunity to investigate disease characteristics and treatment outcomes specific to Emiratis,' Dr Haber said. Insights from the project are relevant to the emerging field of pharmacogenetics, which concerns how a person's response to medication is affected by their genes. Prof Al Safar said the initiative enabled the identification of population-specific genetic variants influencing health, disease risk, and response to treatment. Detailed understanding of these variants leads to more accurate diagnosis of conditions, targeted therapies – treatments that are more effective and have fewer side effects – and improved disease prevention. It should be possible to identify people at higher risk of developing particular conditions. 'Ultimately, this leads to improved patient outcomes, reduced healthcare costs and a more proactive approach to health management,' Prof Al Safar said. In December, a study was released on the Emirati pangenome, which describes both the genetic material shared by members of the population, and the variation that exists between them. Prof Al Safar was the senior author of the research, which was published in bioRxiv. As well as being useful for personalised medicine, the information should be of value in understanding how human migration contributed to the genetic make-up of the Emirati population. A study published late last year looking at genetic susceptibility among Emiratis to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer highlights the improvements in knowledge that the Emirati Genome Project may bring. Writing in JCO Global Oncology, researchers said that at present 'little is known' about the genetic variants that may contribute to breast cancer among Emirati patients often developing early and being diagnosed at a late stage. 'We predict the rate of variants of uncertain significance in the Emirati population will decrease as more patients are tested, and as one of the benefits of the Emirati Genome Project,' they wrote. Many nations have made efforts to better understand the genetic make-up of their populations by sequencing genomes. 'Examples include the UK Biobank, the All of Us Research Programme in the United States, the Qatar Genome Programme, and similar efforts in Japan, China, and Finland. These projects collectively contribute to global understanding of human genetics,' Prof Al Safar said. The 'relatively open access' of the UK Biobank has, Dr Haber said, resulted in more than 10,000 research publications, which he added had significantly advanced 'our understanding of diseases and treatments within this population'.
The National
15-04-2025
- Health
- The National
How the Emirati Genome Project should lead to major advances in personalised medicine
Abu Dhabi Global Health Week, which runs from Tuesday to Thursday, will showcase many innovations in personalised medicine, in which health care is precisely tailored to the patient. Central to this is ensuring that preventive measures and treatments are adapted to an individual's genetic make-up, contrasting with the one-size-fits-all approach typical in medicine. The UAE is well placed to roll out developments in personalised medicine thanks to the Emirati Genome Project, one of several such initiatives in the Gulf region. The aim of the project is to analyse the genomes – a person's complete set of genetic material – of as many UAE nationals as possible. A researcher closely involved with the project, Prof Habiba Al Safar, dean of the College of Medical and Health Sciences at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, said that would 'generate a comprehensive reference map of the genetic make-up of the Emirati population'. Since the initiative was launched in 2020, more than 600,000 Emiratis have provided blood or cheek swabs so that their genomes can be sequenced, making it, Prof Al Safar said, 'the largest population-based genetic study in the region'. 'This scale not only highlights the UAE's commitment to advancing genomic research, but also ensures that the resulting data has exceptional depth and impact,' she added. Most genomic research has focused on people of European ancestry, said Dr Marc Haber, associate professor in the Department of Cancer and Genomic Studies at the University of Birmingham's Dubai campus, leaving populations in the Middle East 'largely underexplored'. 'A lack of genetic studies in the Middle East has created significant data gaps that hinder progress in healthcare across the region,' he added. The Emirati population has, he said, a unique demographic and genomic history. While some of this is shared with neighbouring communities, Dr Haber said that 'a substantial portion' is distinct to Emiratis. Personalised medicine depends on understanding how genetic differences between individuals influence their susceptibility to disease and responses to treatment. 'With the advent of the Emirati Genome Project, health data scientists and bioinformaticians now have the opportunity to investigate disease characteristics and treatment outcomes specific to Emiratis,' Dr Haber said. Insights from the project are relevant to the emerging field of pharmacogenetics, which concerns how a person's response to medication is affected by their genes. Prof Al Safar said the initiative enabled the identification of population-specific genetic variants influencing health, disease risk, and response to treatment. Detailed understanding of these variants leads to more accurate diagnosis of conditions, targeted therapies – treatments that are more effective and have fewer side effects – and improved disease prevention. It should be possible to identify individuals at higher risk of developing particular conditions. 'Ultimately this leads to improved patient outcomes, reduced healthcare costs and a more proactive approach to health management,' Prof Al Safar said. In December a study was released on the Emirati pangenome, which describes both the genetic material shared by members of the population, and the variation that exists between them. Prof Al Safar was the senior author of the research, which was published in bioRxiv. As well as being useful for personalised medicine, the information should be of value in understanding how human migration contributed to the genetic make-up of the Emirati population. A study published late last year looking at genetic susceptibility among Emiratis to hereditary breast and ovarian cancer highlights the improvements in knowledge that the Emirati Genome Project will bring. Writing in JCO Global Oncology, researchers said that at present 'little is known' about the genetic variants that may contribute to breast cancer among Emirati patients often developing early and being diagnosed at a late stage. 'We predict the rate of variants of uncertain significance in the Emirati population will decrease as more patients are tested, and as one of the benefits of the Emirati Genome Project,' they wrote. Many nations have made efforts to better understand the genetic make-up of their populations by sequencing the genomes of individuals. 'Examples include the UK Biobank, the All of Us Research Programme in the United States, the Qatar Genome Programme, and similar efforts in Japan, China, and Finland. These projects collectively contribute to global understanding of human genetics,' Prof Al Safar said. The 'relatively open access' of the UK Biobank has, Dr Haber said, resulted in more than 10,000 research publications, which he added had significantly advanced 'our understanding of diseases and treatments within this population'.
Associated Press
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Toronto's Nicole Haber Has the #1 Song on Music's Leading Platform for Indie Artists
'This song isn't just about my story - it's for anyone who's ever felt lost or alone.' — Nicole Haber TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, April 4, 2025 / / -- aBreak Music, music's most leading global indie artist discovery platform, announces that 'Rock Bottom' by Nicole Haber is the newest #1 on the aBreak58. Check it out at Eletro-pop-punk artist Nicole Haber's latest release, 'Rock Bottom,' has struck a chord with listeners worldwide with their deeply personal track about battling mental health struggles, proving that even in our darkest moments, there's always a way forward. 'This song is the most vulnerable thing I've ever put out,' says Nicole Haber. 'I wrote it during one of the hardest times in my life when I was struggling with my mental health and ended up hospitalized. It's about feeling completely lost but also realizing that there's always a way back up. Seeing it reach #1 honestly blows me away - this song was written in my darkest moments and now it's reaching people who need it most.' 'Reaching #1 on the aBreak58 is an incredible honor. It validates the vulnerability poured into 'Rock Bottom' and reinforces my belief in music's power to heal and connect us all. The song isn't just about my story - it's for anyone who's ever felt lost or alone.' Haber's distinctive musical blend, paired with relatable lyrics and high energy performances, has earned them a growing audience of over 500,000 listeners worldwide and 1.7 million+ streams across all platforms. They've shared the stage with Lights, Rêve and Tom Wilson, played sold out headlining shows and recently made their West Coast debut at the Richmond Night Market. Beyond the music, Haber connects with fans every day through TikTok livestreams, building a thriving, safe-space community called The Haberhood - a place where everyone is welcome, no matter where they're at in life. It's a spot to hang out and talk about real things. With a cross-Ontario tour planned for the end of this year, Haber is gearing up to bring their electrifying live show to cities across the province. Until then, you can find them where they always are - being unapologetically themselves, onstage, online and in the studio. Every two weeks, aBreak Music releases their aBreak58 playlist featuring the top 58 songs uploaded from indie artists representing multiple genres from around the world. These songs are then rotated on what has become the leading radio station for indie artists, the aBreak58. ''Rock Bottom' has been one of the most loved and talked about songs we've highlighted at aBreak Music,' said Bruce Tyler, CEO of aBreak Music. 'Jay Stevens and I immediately recognized Nicole's expertise in blending lyric and melody in a way that reaches a very wide audience. We highly recommend checking out all of Nicole's music, as well as their daily live stream on TikTok.' About aBreak Music: aBreak Music is a US based international, multi-genre indie artist discovery platform. The company's Founder/CEO, Bruce Tyler, partner Jay Stevens, and others are some of the most successful and connected executives in the history of music. The aBreak58 playlist and radio station have become essential tools for indie artists looking to get discovered, and record industry executives looking to find the best new talent. Visit at X TikTok Legal Disclaimer:
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
The weirdest ways scientists are mining for critical minerals, from water to weeds
Since ancient history, mining has been a dirty business. While we've developed new tools, chemicals, machines, and techniques, most of today's mining still boils down to digging in the dirt. As the world ramps up production of the technologies it needs to move away from fossil fuels, this widespread disturbance of Earth and ecosystems will continue in the accelerating search for critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare-earth elements. But what if there were another way? Or, better yet, many other ways. After all, the minerals we need aren't just buried underground. As the basic building blocks of much of the world's matter, these elements have accumulated everywhere: in plant life, in the ocean, in our industrial waste, and even in rocks hurtling through outer space. While the ability to pull enough minerals from these sources to power the energy transition is still a long way off, scientists and entrepreneurs are hard at work trying to find out if each of these sources can compete with traditional mining methods. In the process, they're also raising challenging questions about how far we'll need to stretch human ingenuity to meet the challenge of the energy transition — and just how clean even the most advanced type of 'mining' can ever be. For more than a century, eccentric scientists have dreamed of wringing precious metals from the Earth's most vast resource: its oceans. The seas contain millions to trillions of metric tons of gold, cobalt, and other elements, including 17,000 times more lithium than the world's terrestrial reserves. Unlike more controversial forms of deep-sea mining that require dredging the ocean floor, these dissolved minerals can be extracted directly from the ocean water itself. In the 1920s, German chemist Fritz Haber hatched a plan to extract gold from seawater in order to pay back Germany's debt from World War I. But unlike Haber's other groundbreaking science — he invented synthetic processes that more or less led the way to both modern agriculture and chemical warfare — this effort yielded no real fruit, even after years of research in secret labs on German ships. In the decades since, the United States, United Kingdom, and Japan have all studied seawater as a potential source of uranium, but none of these efforts yielded widespread success, either. The basic problem has always been that the ocean's elements are dispersed so broadly that extracting them often costs more than the market value of the minerals. Today, in the face of a looming critical mineral shortage, scientists are renewing their efforts to overcome this hurdle. They've turned to an unassuming source: algae. Scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Sequim, Washington, are exploring the potential of a type of seaweed that can naturally concentrate minerals at levels thousands of times higher than the surrounding seawater. [youtube For years, the lab had been studying algae — the broad class of photosynthetic organisms that include phytoplankton, seaweed, and kelp — for a completely different reason: as a potential source for renewable biofuels. The lab would grow algae in tanks, then extract all its organic compounds to use for fuel. This process left behind a concentrated powdery waste product, chock-full of all the remaining minerals that weren't needed for the fuel. At first, researchers didn't realize the potential of this overlooked byproduct. Scott Edmundson, a research scientist at the lab, recalls when he realized, 'Oh, there's a lot of minerals here that we really are undervaluing.' As part of an Department of Energy experimental research program, they developed a system to pump seawater into onshore grow tanks full of a type of mineral-loving seaweed called Ulva. From there, they harvested and dried the seaweed, then processed it into the mineral-rich powder, which they dubbed 'bio-ore.' This powder contains precious elements like nickel, cobalt, and rare earths at levels thousands of times higher than seawater. For example, concentrations of the rare earth element neodymium — an essential component in wind turbines — can be up to 479,000 times higher than the original seawater. The dream of pulling gold or cobalt or many other critical minerals out of seawater is still far from being commercially feasible. But scientists like Edmundson — and others like Cornell University scientist Maha Haji, who has designed mineral filters that could be hung from abandoned oil rigs to pull cobalt from the Gulf of Mexico — think seawater mining has the potential to fundamentally reshape how the world sources its minerals. 'If you can make that work, and you can do it in a way that's environmentally responsible, that has such high potential for providing the minerals we need in a sustainable, egalitarian way,' Edmundson said. 'If you have access to the ocean, you have access to the minerals.' — Jesse Nichols Each spring, Albania's mountainous roads are suddenly lined by striking yellow weeds with oblong leaves and tiny blossoms. A relative of broccoli, cabbage, and wild mustard, Odontarrhena chalcidica is expertly adapted to the rocky soils of this Balkan country, which are unsuitable for most other kinds of vegetation because of their high nickel content. O. chalcidica has developed the ability to not just survive in this environment, but to use its toxicity to its advantage: The plant draws nickel up from the soil and stores it in its leaves and stems, which botanists believe serves as a defense against predators and diseases. But this defensive maneuver could also make this unremarkable-looking weed a critical tool for the clean energy transition. For years, scientists have known that plants like O. chalcidica, known as hyperaccumulators, can be harvested and burned to extract the nickel contained within their cells. This is called phytomining. Now, companies are starting to catch on, working to apply phytomining on a scale that could actually put a dent in global demand for nickel, which is used in solar panels, wind turbines, and the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles. One of these is Metalplant, a startup founded four years ago by three American and Albanian entrepreneurs. Metalplant worked with researchers at Albania's Agricultural University of Tirana to transform O. chalcidica from a simple weed into a valuable crop. The company estimates that the plant can produce between 440 and 880 pounds of nickel per hectare in one growing season. Theoretically, that means the entire global nickel demand in 2020 could be met by growing O. chalcidica on around 23,000 square miles, an area slightly smaller than West Virginia. Though Metalplant hasn't yet revealed its buyers, the company harvested its second batch of O. chalcidica last June, containing a few hundred pounds of precious nickel. Eric Matzner, one of Metalplant's three co-founders, doesn't believe supplanting the entire global nickel supply chain is a realistic near-term goal. But he imagines that his company can provide a cleaner source of nickel — one that doesn't cause the kind of deforestation, air and water pollution, and seizure of Indigenous lands seen in Indonesia, the world's largest producer of the metal. Though traditional nickel mines currently have a cost advantage due to their sheer scale, Metalplant aims to become competitive by providing an additional service: carbon dioxide removal. The company is using a technique known as enhanced rock weathering, which involves spreading crushed rocks containing silicate minerals on O. chalcidica fields as they grow. This rock debris not only boosts yields by replenishing nickel in the soil, but it also reacts with carbon dioxide in the air to lock away the greenhouse gas as a solid, which later gets washed away by rain and ultimately deposited in the ocean. The result, which the company calls 'carbon negative' nickel, can be purchased by carmakers that aim to offset their own carbon emissions. In theory this could enable an electric vehicle to claim carbon neutrality for its entire life cycle. And it's not just carmakers who are interested: Researchers at the University of Lorraine in Nancy, France, recently formed a partnership with steelmaker Aperam to use phytomined nickel in stainless steel production. In March of last year, the U.S. Department of Energy announced that it would fund research into phytomining, seeking to make the process more efficient and increase its scale — with the ultimate goal of boosting the domestic supply chain for nickel and reducing imports. (ARPA-E, the program that distributes the funding, has been targeted by the Trump administration, and its future role in supporting phytomining research is unclear.) Companies like Metalplant have a long way to go before they can draw buyers away from established nickel producers in Indonesia. But Albania has a few other advantages: Its mountains are rich in olivine, a rock that's ideal for ERW, and its numerous hydropower dams provide ample renewable energy needed to crush those rocks so they can be spread and sequester carbon dioxide. Albanian farmers are struggling with poor harvests and an exodus of young people to cities and abroad, which means they welcome the chance to explore new economic opportunities, according to Matzner. The way he sees it, 'We're literally growing money on trees.' — Diana Kruzman Centuries of mining, drilling, and burning fossil fuels has left large swathes of Appalachia covered in a big, toxic mess. Billions of tons of coal ash — the hard residue left over from coal burnt by power plants — are buried or piled in the open air across the region, slowly poisoning the soil and water around them. Heavy metals leak from old mines into nearby creeks, turning the water bright orange as they oxidize. And much of the mineral-rich radioactive liquid that's used to drill miles underground for fracked natural gas gets deposited into storage wells that can leak into the water tables around them. These waste streams are so toxic in part because they contain metals and minerals from the coal seams and shale formations from which we draw our fossil fuels. In other words, in one of the many ironies of the climate crisis, fossil fuel extraction has unearthed large quantities of the very materials that could wean us off of carbon-intensive energy: minerals like lithium, cobalt, manganese, and nickel, which are essential for green infrastructure such as the batteries that store renewable energy. Scientists have been researching the mineral mining potential of coal waste for decades. Newer research is now also exploring the possibility of pulling lithium from the wastewater produced by oil and gas extraction: A study from the National Energy Technology Laboratory this past May suggests that up to 40 percent of current domestic lithium demand could be sourced from fracking wastewater in the Marcellus Shale. (That quantity is still 'strikingly small' relative to anticipated future demand for lithium, according to Sean O'Leary with the Ohio River Valley Institute.) What's unknown, however, is whether these minerals can ever be gathered cheaply enough to compete with mining them in more conventional ways. Extracting critical minerals from solid waste like coal ash is a pretty resource- and energy-intensive process: The burnt residue has to be crushed into powder and processed multiple times with acids and sodium hydroxide, and then dissolved into a liquid form to extract the desirable elements. (Processing acid mine drainage is less involved, and therefore less expensive, because it's already a liquid.) While a few private companies have partnered with universities to conduct pilot projects — such as Rare Earth Salts, Aqua Metals, and General Electric with Pennsylvania State University; Montana Resources with West Virginia University; and Element USA with the University of Texas, Austin — there are still major questions to answer about the technology's market viability. In addition to uncertainty about cost competitiveness, is there enough supply to warrant investment in processing plants? Sarma Pisupati, director of the Center for Critical Minerals at Pennsylvania State University, points out that every coal seam contains a distinct mix of minerals, and it's difficult to determine the location and volume of a significant store of rare-earth minerals without direct sampling from a given site. 'We need detailed analysis and estimates of reserves that we have in the ground before we can sink in millions and millions of dollars to build a plant,' he said. We have some early ideas of what those reserves might look like. A 2024 study from the University of Texas estimates that there are 11 million tons of rare-earth elements in coal ash reserves around the country, but there's huge variation in the types and concentration of those elements between, say, waste sites in Wyoming and Pennsylvania. Another report from the Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management notes that processing such a relatively small mass of these elements from thousands of tons of coal ash means that any commercial mineral extraction plant would have to find some other economic purpose — like turning the leftover, post-processing coal waste into fertilizer or concrete additives. Alternatively, fossil fuel companies themselves could be incentivized to extract the in-demand minerals from their own waste. This is one reason why environmental groups are ambivalent on the promise of mineral extraction from fossil fuel waste, according to Rob Altenburg, senior director of climate and energy for the organization PennFuture, an environmental advocacy nonprofit in Pennsylvania. On one hand, an economic motivation to clean up and utilize fossil fuel waste could be a boon for ecosystems and communities dealing with legacy pollution. 'But when you are essentially giving [fossil fuel] companies another revenue stream, are you creating a net benefit for the environment by addressing this waste, or are you subsidizing something … that is then going to outcompete a cleaner alternative?' he said. — Eve Andrews A big problem with finding the metals needed to power the energy transition is that the purest ores available in Earth's crust have long been used up. The more we mine, the more we're chasing lower-quality, harder-to-access reserves. To bypass the increasing environmental cost associated with churning up our world to access the riches stored within, starry-eyed entrepreneurs and engineers have turned their gazes to the heavens. They're hoping that primordial rocks left over from the formation of the solar system, drifting between the planets untouched for eons, could provide all the metals that humanity might need for centuries to come. 'Asteroid mining as a whole is the only solution that anybody has devised that is a holistic approach to cleaning up mining,' said Matt Gialich, founder and CEO of the California-based company AstroForge. AstroForge and a small handful of competitors are proposing different ways to one day extract materials from an asteroid and return them to Earth. But the nascent industry has a long path ahead: To date, only three missions — none of which was undertaken by the private sector — have successfully visited asteroids near Earth and returned home with samples. But in late February, AstroForge's Odin spacecraft hitched a ride on a SpaceX Falcon 9 alongside other vehicles destined for the moon. If successful, Odin would be the first commercial deep-space mission in history, likely traversing hundreds of millions of miles before darting by its target asteroid to photograph it and confirm its metallic composition. (After launch, however, Odin appeared to be in a slow, uncontrolled tumble on its way to deep space, and Gialich and his team struggled to communicate with the spacecraft. As it drifts further into deep space, their chances of success diminish.) Metallic asteroids are prime targets for off-world mining because of the high concentrations of valuable elements — particularly nickel, cobalt, iron, and platinum-group metals — they may contain. (Until a spacecraft successfully visits one of these bodies, we really only have estimates based on meteorites believed to have originated from similar asteroids.) At first, the space miners would focus on platinum and related metals because they are some of the most valuable on Earth: A ton of platinum costs over $30 million, whereas a ton of nickel sells for around $20,000. Gialich estimates that Astroforge's future mining missions could return one ton of platinum each. Eventually, once they have established their profitability and can shift to collecting the abundant iron, nickel, and cobalt that asteroids also contain, Gialich and others hope that a thriving asteroid mining industry could lead to a mining moratorium on Earth. 'I think if we are successful,' Gialich said, 'this makes precious metal mining on the planet illegal.' Before that happens, there are a lot of kinks to be worked out. Right now, under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, no country can lay territorial claims to land on another world, whether that be the moon, an asteroid, or Mars. But emerging national laws have given companies and countries the license to extract materials and have a legal claim to anything they can physically take for themselves. More importantly, perhaps, no one yet knows the best way to extract these metals. Some have suggested using special chemicals to dissolve the materials and filter out the desirable metals. Others have talked about using magnetic rakes to comb through the pulverized dust coating the asteroids to pull out the rocks and granules that contain platinum group metals. One recent paper even proposed using nuclear thermal rockets to melt the asteroids, then collecting the molten materials in crucibles and allowing evaporation to separate the metals. Even if a workable method is devised and the raw cost-revenue calculations work out to make it a profitable industry, space mining raises deeper questions. The launches required to hurtle mining vessels into deep space would take tremendous amounts of fuel and further contribute to the space industry's growing problems of polluting the upper atmosphere and damaging biodiversity. The mining itself, without proper regulations, may even create new streams of meteors that could endanger satellites providing crucial services to the people of Earth. Despite its challenges, many in and around the field argue that their efforts will not only make the energy transition more sustainable, but that they will also be a necessary step for humanity to evolve beyond our earthly cradle. But is it worth expanding into the final frontier if we haven't yet learned to tread lightly? — Syris Valentine This story was originally published by Grist with the headline The weirdest ways scientists are mining for critical minerals, from water to weeds on Mar 26, 2025.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
As Altadena Clears Its Fire Ruins, Resident Pride and Unity Crashes Into Reality of Uncertainty
Ken Haber walks through the charred vegetation in his backyard and points to a large burn mark on the side of his intact house. It was where a compost heap was set ablaze by an ember carried by the hurricane-force winds that turned January's Eaton Fire into a historic disaster that consumed thousands of homes in Altadena. Haber, a retired location manager whose work includes 'Fatal Attraction,' 'Wall Street,' and picking out Utah's Moab Canyon for the iconic ending of 'Thelma & Louise,' could have seen his home join those thousands if it wasn't for the quick thinking of a neighbor who had risked his life to return and use the water in his hot tub to put out as many embers as he could. Largely because of the neighbor's efforts, both of their homes were among five still standing on their street, even as the charred remains of countless more surround them.'We suffered a lot of smoke damage, but it could have been so much worse,' Haber told TheWrap. Outside Haber's home on the southwest edge of the 8.5-square-mile community that has largely been reduced to rubble and ash, excavators, water trucks and other demolition vehicles pass the largely empty streets driven by a mix of crews from the Army Corps of Engineers and some private companies. Next to signs from the EPA and ACE noting those trucks progress in removing hazardous materials and the remains of thousands of homes are signs bearing the mantra that has swept over the community: 'Altadena Is Not for Sale.' As this San Gabriel community of working and middle class residents — hundreds of whom work in entertainment — begin the years-long process of rebuilding, several members of it say that a mixture of determination and confusion is in the air. Various grassroots organizations have been formed by residents and local professional groups to help those who have lost everything move past mourning and try to preserve the eclectic nature of Altadena. But that wave of local pride and unity is crashing into a reality of uncertainty, as questions still abound as to how and when the rebuilding will take place. And it may be several weeks or perhaps months before government officials on the local, state and federal level have all the answers. 'People are loath to give out answers either because they don't have them or they are afraid of it coming back to bite them,' Haber said of guidance from local officials. 'The biggest questions are when people who have lost their homes can start rebuilding, and for those whose homes survived, when it is fully safe to move back in.' While still stopping by his home to check on it, Haber is currently living elsewhere while his home goes through the final steps of smoke remediation. Water and power have also been restored, though other residents say that utilities have not been restored to all houses and apartments that survived the Eaton fire. Haber also says that he and his wife want to wait to move back in out of concern over asbestos and other pollutants from the surrounding debris that are still lingering in the air. In the meantime, Haber has teamed up with a group of fellow location managers who are using their professional work to help residents. With its history of rich architecture, Altadena's neighborhoods have been used by location managers for exterior shots on films and TV shows for decades. One house in particular, called the 'Rubio House,' has been used on shows ranging from '7th Heaven' and 'This Is Us' to 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.' 'Because a lot of residents only had minutes to get out, a lot of documents were lost in the fire,' Haber said. 'So I've been in a group of location managers that have been going through their pictures of the neighborhood and sending residents photos of their houses to show to insurance companies as part of the claims process.' Haber has also helped organize community meetings for residents as a board member of Altadena Heritage, a group that prior to the fires was focused on preservation of historic homes and gardens in the community. With so many of those decades-old architectural wonders now destroyed, the group has pivoted to helping residents get back on their feet and provide spaces for them to gather and share information on rebuilding. 'We are seeing residents getting together, neighbor to neighbor, block by block, to try to figure out how to rebuild as a group,' Val Zavala, retired journalist and former host of the PBS SoCal news program 'SoCal Connected,' said. Like Haber, Zavala is an Altadena Heritage board member whose home survived the Eaton Fire, but she notes that half of the board was not so fortunate. 'The biggest challenge for rebuilding, I think, is that the reality of rebuilding is so vastly different from person to person,' she said. 'Everyone has a different situation with their savings, with their insurance or lack thereof, with the extent of the damage to their homes and how much they lost. What makes Altadena so special is that it is so diverse ethnically and socioeconomically, but that is also making it more difficult to ensure that no one gets left behind as we recover.' Indeed, the populace of Altadena is a far cry from Palisades, not only in terms of the average income of its residents but also in terms of the political entities at play. Palisades is part of the City of Los Angeles and therefore under the jurisdiction of Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilmember Traci Park in addition to County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath. Those multiple layers of local oversight have led to conflicts in the early weeks of recovery, not to mention the confusion that has risen from federal and state officials as well as various private groups like Rick Caruso's Steadfast LA also giving their input on rebuilding. At least in terms of local governance, Altadena has a singular official with whom the buck stops: County Supervisor Kathryn Barger. The sole Republican on the five-woman Board of Supervisors was re-elected to a final four-year term last November and in interviews with the press has referred to herself as the 'de facto mayor' of Altadena as she works to coordinate recovery plans with federal and state officials as well as private business groups and displaced residents. Barger's communication director, Helen Chavez, told TheWrap that the supervisor's biggest focus is on trying to expedite rebuilding in as many ways as possible. To that end, her office has established a 'one-stop rebuilding shop' where residents can get information on debris removal, rebuilding permits and other steps to help residents be prepared for when they get the greenlight to start construction. 'If there's anybody that can identify roadblocks or bureaucratic hurdles that can be removed to help Altadena residents rebuild, it's going to be the supervisor,' she said. But as Haber said, not all of the answers residents need are available, the most pressing being how long they will have to wait to start rebuilding. At the moment, the only clear date on the rebuilding timeline is March 31, the deadline set by the Army Corps of Engineers for 'right of entry' forms. Those forms are required from residents to be able to have the Corps clear out the ruins of their homes or, if they wish, to opt out of the public service if they want it done by a private company. For those who could afford the high prices for private debris removal by a certified contractor, one advantage is knowing when they'll be able to start rebuilding. With 9,400 structures destroyed by the Eaton Fire, it will take months for ACE to complete the cleanup, even with the process already underway and officials from Barger to the Trump Administration urging as fast a cleanup as possible. According to two individuals with knowledge of the cleanup process, ACE and local officials have been encouraging residents to complete their right of entry forms as quickly as possible to expedite the cleanup process as much as possible. Those forms are processed overnight, with local subcontractors sent out by the federal agency to areas that have had hazardous materials removed by the EPA. So far, approximately 1,000 lots of land in the Palisades and Altadena have been fully cleaned by ACE crews. To increase efficiency, the Corps is prioritizing clusters of blocks that have multiple adjacent lots with completed right of entry forms. This allows them to dispatch subcontractors and their cleanup equipment to handle whole blocks in a single trip, rather than having to go back-and-forth to the same block across multiple days as forms are submitted by residents on a longer basis. In the meantime, Barger's office is encouraging residents in weekly online town halls to make as many preparations as possible with developers. One common option being considered is collective development, where residents on the same block get together and pool their resources to rebuild under a single contractor. On paper, it's mutually beneficial for residents, who can get a group discount, and developers, who get multiple projects. In practice, it can be trickier to organize if there are differences in architecture tastes, which developer they prefer to use, or if some of the residents can't contribute as much to the redevelopment due to low finances or being Schaeffer, the CEO of Women in Film who showed TheWrap her destroyed block a week after the fire, has joined a grassroots program called Altagether as a neighborhood captain, keeping residents informed on recovery updates and getting them connected to needed resources. She says she is weighing four different rebuilding options, some of which involve collective development.'It can be hard to get everybody on the same page,' she noted. 'I'm eager to build now because our insurance runs out in two years on our rental property, but at the same time, I'd much more prefer taking our time and have all the preparations done in the best way possible so we can move quickly. Slow start to finish fast.' Schaeffer also says that a big concern for a lot of community organizers is how much the socioeconomic disparity will play a factor in which residents stay and who leave. Altadena is one of the oldest Black communities in L.A. County, shaped by decades of racist redlining practices and discriminatory displacement for freeway construction that left the foothills as one of the few affordable neighborhoods for Black residents. Despite this, generations of Black families have built a middle-class life in Altadena, including the legendary actor Sidney Poitier. But for many of those families, their generational wealth was in their now-destroyed houses rather than their bank accounts, increasing the pressure on the decision whether to fight to rebuild or to sell their lucrative land to move elsewhere, sometimes with families out-of-state. Architect Carla Flagg has a sister who lost everything when a home that had been in their family for decades was burned down. As a member of the Southern California chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (SoCal NOMA), she's now devoting her time to helping Altadena's residents of color navigate the rebuilding process. 'It's been a learning and listening process for us over the last two months,' Flagg said. 'We've been studying what other NOMA chapters have done to help residents after disasters like Hurricane Katrina. We've also had listening sessions just to get an understanding from residents about what they need the most help with and to build trust between architects and the community.' SoCal NOMA has prepared information packages to teach residents the basic questions they should ask their insurance companies and any developers they may speak with about rebuilding. Developing those packages came as a result of those listening sessions, which the organization will continue to have in an effort to monitor where residents are having problems as they rebuild and keep them from being left behind. While the final timetable for cleanup is far from complete, it may not be until summer at the earliest when residents will start slowly being notified that their lots and the surrounding area are safe and ready for construction. Along with clearing debris, the Army Corps of Engineers is doing analysis of three to six inches of topsoil to ensure that hazardous chemicals haven't soaked into the ground and become a health hazard. But even then, there may be more delays at the state level, as debates are still unfolding over how many permitting regulations wildfire survivors should be exempt from, including new California regulations requiring that solar panels be installed on all new construction in an effort to decarbonize the state. Supervisor Barger is pushing for more exemptions, calling on state officials to remove as many permitting requirements as possible or to create tax credits for those who lost their homes in the fires that go towards home hardening and other climate and disaster resiliency. 'I talked to a probation officer whose home had been in the family forever, and I'm not going to look her in the eye and say, 'You can't build. Sorry. Climate change,'' Barger told Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez in January. 'But what I will say is we will provide you with all the resources that we can so that when you rebuild, you do it in a way that recognizes that you are in a high fire zone.' Striking that balance in a community that will be beset in the future by increasing likelihood of climate-related disasters, rising rent and insurance rates, and other affordability problems will be the big challenge facing Altadena in the years to come. Even with a litany of government, business and grassroots entities trying to coordinate, it is unclear how many residents will be able to stay in the community, but location manager Haber hopes that the energy his neighbors are showing as they move forward out of the ashes will stay strong. 'So many different people from so many walks of life have come to live here,' he said. 'I don't want to lose that.' The post As Altadena Clears Its Fire Ruins, Resident Pride and Unity Crashes Into Reality of Uncertainty appeared first on TheWrap.
