Dozens of people gathered outside the Calabasas landfill in Agoura Hills on Saturday morning to throw up to 5,000 tons of debris per day as part of a massive cleanup operation following the devastating Los Angeles County wildfires last month. I protested the plan.
“Let’s be non-toxic,” recited the group, which includes children and families. “There’s no trash can!” they cried.
The protest will be promoted this week when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers launches a second phase from the Eton and Palisade fires, destroying more than 9,400 structures in Altadena and destroying more than 6,800 at Palisades in the Pacific.
Calabasas landfills have since this latest cleanup phase, including chimneys, dangerous wood, fire debris and ash, and at least seven non-haz waste landfills in Southern California that have been approved to accept waste, including chimneys, dangerous wood, fire debris and ash. It’s one.
Resident Sandra Lewis and her daughter Isabella, 5, left, and neighbor Lead, Lead, and her daughter Adelaide, 4, gathered outside the Calabasas landfill and was disposed of there. Protest against the remains from the fire.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
According to the city of Calabasas, the Army Corps were able to begin transporting the remains to the landfill on Monday. To respond to debris removal, the county last week approved an exemption that extended the opening hours of landfills and increased daily tonnage from 3,500 tonnes per day to 5,000.
The demonstration came the day after Calabasas City Council sent a letter to the LA County Board of Supervisors, and the day after it was transported to landfills, then expressed its “strong opposition” to the fire stations that were being disposed of. , parks, wildlife corridors and other sensitive places. In this letter, the council pleaded county, state and federal officials to explore other disposal options, including redirecting waste to low-rise areas outside of state.
“The city council has to reflect the public’s sentiment that the urgency of the recovery stage and efforts to improve one disaster are laying the foundation for future public health and environmental catastrophes that will affect Calabasas residents. Not,” the city leader wrote. The council directed Calabasas city counsel to seek injunctive relief at the state or federal level, they wrote.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began the first phase of fire debris cleaning on January 28th to remove dangerous materials such as paints, cleaners and solvents, oils, pesticides, lithium-ion batteries and asbestos from burnt areas. I did.
Environmental Protection Agency crews comb through ruins of the house burned in the Palisade fire.
(Robert Gautier/Los Angeles Times)
The agency transports hazardous materials to temporary staging areas. It transports Altadena Golf Course for debris from Lario Park and Eton Fire in Irwindale, as well as former Topanga Ranch Motel and Rogers State Beach due to the Palisade Fire. The debris is then sorted, fixed and packaged for transportation to permitted disposal facilities.
Residents and leaders of the Foothill Community in LA, together with city leaders in Duarte, Azusa, Irwindale and Baldwin Park last month, expressed concern about the health and environmental risks that the Lario Park site could pose. I’m doing it. of the site.
The EPA said it will take steps to ensure safety at the Lario Park site, including air quality monitoring, the use of water trucks to reduce dust and emissions, and environmental testing after closure.
The fire ash and shards collected during the second phase of cleanup are driven into lined trucks and driven into approved landfills. This includes Simi Valley Reclamation Sites, Azusa Land Reclamation Sites, and Sanitary Reclamation Sites in Badlands, Moreno Valley Lands. , El Sobrante landfill in Corona, Lamb Canyon landfill in Beaumont, and Sunshine Canyon landfill in Sylmer.
Dozens of protesters will protest Saturday as the dump truck arrives at the Calabasas landfill in Agoura Hills. They are opposed to debris from recent wildfires being disposed of there due to environmental concerns.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
The cleanup includes thousands of contractors from private companies working to dispose of the Army and 4.5 million tonnes of fire stations.
Saturday’s demonstration was organized by Protect Calabasas. Calabasas is seeking an injunction to stop dumping of fire debris in landfills while the matter moves through the court.
According to attendee Kelly Rapf Martino, law enforcement officials arrived at the protest about 30 minutes after the protest, preventing the group from blocking traffic near the landfill. The group later marches down Lost Hills Road, “Listen to your mother! There are no toxic dumping in Calabasas!” and eventually arrives at nearby Elewon market.
“We are very concerned about microscopic particles that have ashes and debris being dumped in residential communities’ landfills,” says Protect, the mother of two and lives nearby the landfill. said Martino, a member of Calabasas. . She said she is particularly concerned about potentially harmful asbestos particles that end up in dumps.
She pointed to comments made by Army Colonel Brian Sauser at the Calabasas City Council meeting on Wednesday. He explained that before beginning the cleanup process, the Army Corps explained that they would chip test every asbestos home in search of visible hazardous materials. If asbestos is found, it will relax the entire site in accordance with state and federal regulations, remove asbestos-containing materials, and result in a waste stream that does not head to the Calabasas landfill.
Protesters held signs on the overpass of 101 highway in Agoura Hills on Saturday and expressed their opposition to debris from the Palisade fires that are being dumped in a Calabasas landfill. They are concerned about toxic materials that put their communities and the environment at risk.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Still, he told the council he was 100% unsure that the dangerous goods would not reach the landfill. Anything is certain. ”
Members of Protect Calabasas are calling on residents to once again protest outside the landfill on Monday morning.
“We are a bunch of mothers who are aiming to protect their children, their schools and their health. We hope that within 20 years many children will get sick and have to seek compensation. Not there,” Martino said. “We’re trying to stop it before it happens.”
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