Following a Los Angeles Times report Friday the revealed California officials considered making LA County pay for post-wildfire soil testing, Supervisor Kathryn Barger reiterated the importance of state funding as the county experiences severe financial stress.
The Times reported that Gov. Gavin Newsom’s disaster chief quietly retired in late December amid criticism over the state’s indecision over whether soil testing was necessary to protect survivors of the Eaton and Palisades fires.
In October, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services — under the leadership of Nancy Ward — privately considered canceling state funding for soil testing in the aftermath of future wildfires, according to an internal draft memo obtained by the Times.
“The notion that the State could simply reimburse Los Angeles County for conducting soil testing and remediation in the Eaton fire area was never a feasible option,” Barger said in the newspaper article and again in a subsequent statement Friday afternoon. “While that approach may have been discussed internally, it fails to reflect the serious fiscal constraints our County is facing.”
As county officials manage ongoing wildfire recovery efforts, “the loss of federal funding for core services, and extraordinary financial obligations stemming from AB 218 … including billions of dollars in litigation and settlement costs,” Barger added. “At the same time, property tax losses have reduced County revenues. Under these conditions, asking our County to front the cost of soil testing with the promise of later reimbursement would have placed an unacceptable burden on taxpayers and threatened essential public services.”
The District 3 supervisor who represents Altadena and communities affected by the Eaton Fire, said she is “determined to not let Eaton Fire survivors navigate these concerns on their own … (and) actively working with nonprofit partners, local researchers, and universities to deploy a pilot soil testing program that can help fill immediate gaps while longer-term solutions are pursued.”
LA County has made lead testing resources available to wildfire survivors, including household lead testing and blood lead testing through the local public health system, “to ensure families have access to timely information and care. These efforts reflect my continued commitment to public health, transparency, and supporting communities as they recover,” Barger said.
Information on the county’s wildfire soil testing program is online at publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/wildfire-soil-testing.