Four months after the devastating Los Angeles wildfires destroyed more than 16,000 homes and other structures, and killed at least 30 people, cleanup and debris removal efforts continue.
As of May 5, 1,786 properties had been cleared of debris and officially “signed off” in the Palisades Fire burn area, and 2,047 had been completed in the Eaton Fire region, said Nancy Allen, public affairs director for the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), which is conducting Phase 2 of the private property fire cleanup under the direction of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“The final sign off is the last step in the USACE debris removal process,” explained Allen. After a property is cleared and signed off, LA County officials contact the property owner, who can then begin the lengthy process to obtain a permit to start rebuilding their property.
Only six building permits have been issued – despite LA Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom both issuing executive orders aimed at expediting the process.
But before a homeowner can seek approval to rebuild their lost home or repair a fire-damaged one, all Phase 1 and 2 steps must be completed, including: removing all hazardous household materials (including paint and lithium-ion batteries); testing for and removing any asbestos materials; removing six inches of soil within the ash footprint of the structure; and separating and removing remaining debris, including metals, concrete and trees, shrubs and other vegetation.
Debris Removal Transported to Other Communities Causes Concern
So far, more than 1.5 million tons of ash, recyclables and other debris from both fires has been disposed of across 17 landfills or recycling centers, including four metal, concrete and wood recycling companies in Sun Valley and North Hills, and four municipal landfills in LA County: Sunshine Canyon in Sylmar and landfills in Lancaster, Palmdale and the city of Calabasas.
In addition, Azusa Landfill is the only facility authorized to handle asbestos materials.
In February, members of the Calabasas City Council voted unanimously to file a lawsuit against LA County, which owns Calabasas Landfill, and Sanitation District No. 2. Council members said they are pursuing the lawsuit to try to block debris from the Palisades Fire from being dumped in Calabasas due to community concerns that the waste could pose health hazards for the public.
Numerous community members residing near Sunshine Canyon also vehemently opposed their local landfill being used for fire debris. But despite weeks of protests, hundreds of letters to city, county and state officials, and a Change.org petition against the proposed plan, on Feb. 25 the LA Board of Supervisors voted to increase allowable daily dumping limits at Sunshine Canyon, effectively giving landfill operators the green light to accept waste from both fire zones.
“We don’t get any support from the county or the city, especially the city,” said Wayde Hunter, a longtime resident of Granada Hills and president of the North Valley Coalition of Concerned Citizens Inc. “They are vested in cheap trash disposal – up to 4,000 tons a day into Sunshine.”
According to Allen, to date the majority of non-hazardous and non-recyclable fire debris has been dumped at Simi Valley Landfill in Ventura County, which has received approximately 927,000 tons, followed by Sunshine Canyon, which has received about 154,000 tons of fire waste.
Due to the volume of debris created by the wildfires, Allen said they expect to remove “4.5 million tons of debris from the Eaton and Palisades fires” by the time cleanup is completed.