The Fourth of July fireworks show in La Jolla Cove – subject of several on-again, off-again flaps over donations and environmental concerns the past several years — will go on after all.
Deborah Marengo, La Jolla Community Fireworks Foundation Committee spokesperson, said that the 29th annual event will proceed at 9 p.m. Friday, July 4. As late as last week, Marengo reported that residents and businesses came through with $30,000, the amount needed to stage the event but that the fireworks were canceled amid concerns that a pyrotechnics company might not be found in time to mount the show. Published reports now say that Marengo has found a Los Angeles-based company with the proper clearances. The move brings the budget requirement to a little more than $50,000, but Marengo said community members were expected to pitch in.
Several lawsuits have been filed against the city’s permitting process for events, including those involving fireworks. In 2011, an environmental lawyer claimed that debris form the explosives harmed sea life in the area. That case has since been settled. Marengo said the City of San Diego has been “wonderfully supportive in continuing the La Jolla event and has incurred substantial expense in settling the four years of litigation by environmental activists.”