California’s Banned Fireworks Pile Up as Tax Bill Stalls
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It was a call about suspicious activity that led police in Orange County, California, last month to a parking lot behind a liquor store, where they arrested a man selling 500 pounds of fireworks.
The banned pyrotechnic products were shipped to the state fire marshal, adding to 300,000 pounds (136,000 kilograms) California has stockpiled because it didn’t have funding to get rid of them. It costs as much as $10 a pound to transport and destroy the popular July 4 accessories at disposal sites in Louisiana or Missouri.