EPA completes hazardous materials cleanup in wildfire areas

The removal of hazardous materials from areas devastated in the Eaton and Palisades fires has completed, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday.

Now that Phase 1 of the cleanup work is done, efforts to clear wildfire debris led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is now fully underway. During Phase 2 government crews or private contractors hired by property owners will remove the ash, wood and other debris that remain on thousands of properties in Altadena, Pasadena, Pacific Palisades and Malibu.

The hazardous waste removal finished within the 30 days that local officials requested.

Phase 1 first was expected to last for several months, however local and state officials asked the EPA to quicken the pace of its crews’ work and finish the process in 30 days to enable a sooner start to eventual rebuilding efforts.

During a briefing Wednesday morning at the county Hall of Administration in downtown Los Angeles, EPA Acting Regional Administrator Cheree Peterson said EPA crews did not remove hazardous substances from several thousand properties that officials deemed too dangerous to clear. The Corps of Engineers will remove hazardous materials and other wastes from those properties during Phase 2 of the debris-removal program.

“EPA’s ability to complete this essential first phase of the cleanup is due to the dedication and hard work of our EPA staff and contractors, our federal, state and local partners, and the support of the community,” Tara Fitzgerald, EPA’s incident commander, said in a statement. “We recognize this is just the first step on the road to recovery and rebuilding, and we will continue to support our partner agencies as they move through this process.”

EPA crews safely disposed of more than 1,000 lithium-ion batteries from vehicles, homes and other battery powered products, according to the agency.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced Tuesday that more than 4,400 properties had been deferred to Phase 2, while more than 9,000 others had been cleared by the EPA.

“Thanks to the hard work and dedication of hundreds of federal and state crews, the first phase of debris cleanup is coming to a close and we can turn our focus fully to structural debris removal,” Newsom said in a statement. “Under the leadership of EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, crews cleaned hazardous waste from thousands of properties in less than 30 days, a record pace never seen before at this scale.

“We’re working hand-in-hand with President Trump and his administration to clear debris as fast as possible to get Angelenos back to their properties to start rebuilding,” Newsom said.

While the EPA is celebrating the milestone, some residents in fire-impacted areas and nearby communities have opposed dumping fire debris in local landfills.

The LA County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday OK’d higher daily limits for dumping at the Lancaster Landfill and Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Granada Hills.

Supervisors also temporarily lifted dumping restrictions at the Calabasas Landfill, enabling the facility to accept fire debris.

Calabasas officials opposed accepting fire debris at the city’s landfill.

“Our entire City Council has directed city resources to aggressively explore the decisions by the county and state and to strongly advocate for our community,” Mayor Peter Kraut said in a statement Feb. 20. “While I understand the urgent desire to haul debris, I am deeply concerned that haste will create another tragedy in the process. Keeping our community in the dark and steam rolling us is unacceptable.”

Last month officials from cities in the San Gabriel Valley voiced opposition to using Lario Park, located at 15701 E. Foothill Blvd., as a staging site for hazardous fire waste.

“I was disappointed to learn that Lario Park was selected as the site for the Eaton Fire hazardous waste cleanup, with no advanced warning or opportunity for community input,” Arcadia Mayor Michael Cao said in a statement. “The wildfires that have ravaged Los Angeles County must be cleaned up, but I cannot understand how trucking hazardous waste through so many vulnerable communities, and placing near homes and schools, is the best possible option.”

Cao joined officials from Duarte, Azusa, Irwindale and Baldwin Park who a day earlier issued a joint statement opposing the site and transportation plan.

County and federal officials have said hazardous materials removed from burned areas by the EPA were not being taken to any of the landfills, but instead to other dumps that are capable of handling toxic debris. They also acknowledged that fire debris such as ash and wood are potentially dangerous in an uncontrolled environment, however, Eaton and Palisades fire debris is packaged, delivered and stored at dumps with attention paid to preventing dangers to public health and safety.

The EPA will maintain a small presence in fire zones to process lithium-ion batteries collected during Phase 2 debris removal to assist the Corps of Engineers, officials said.

More information on the EPA’s debris removal work is on the agency’s website.

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