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Kelly Martino stood in front of the lightning hood of a semi-truck cargo liner carrying waste from the Pallisard fire and decided to stop it from entering the Calabasas landfill.
Martino was one of dozens of people who protested at the site on Monday, and was concerned that ash, debris and soil could be transported to landfills.
The crowd chanted, “Backup!” He then swayed a handwritten sign that read “No toxic damping.” As the tracks of trucks grew longer, sheriff’s deputies threatened to arrest them if the crowd didn’t disband. The protesters were in their positions.
“All the ashes, sludge and debris will come here. That’s not acceptable to us,” said Martino, who lives near Agora Hills. “And we’re not going to wait for a lot of kids to get sick in 20 years.”
A similar protest took place last Saturday at the Calabasas landfill and at Granada Hills, near the Sunshine Canyon landfill on Wednesday. Protesters say they are concerned that toxic chemicals from the fire could float in the neighborhood as leaching into air dust and groundwater. They hope that authorities will instead truck waste into landfills designed for waste. Facilities with durable liners detect unintended discharges to prevent leaks and monitors.
Federal officials have refuted that debris can be safely disposed of in local landfills, and that transporting it to dangerous waste dumps requires longer truck trips that delay cleanup. Masu.
“A much greater risk to the community is the uncontrolled risk of over 13,000 properties,” said Colonel Eric Swenson of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. “And our mission is to get it from the uncontrolled environment of these individual compartments to a controlled environment that is safe for that kind of material.”
An estimated 4.5 million tonnes of ashes and debris from the Eaton and Palisades fires are one of the biggest disaster debris in California’s recent history.
Previous assessments found that wildfire ash had levels of toxic chemicals that are considered hazardous waste by California standards. However, before testing was done, the wildfire debris was transported to landfills.
At the entrance to the Calabasas landfill, various signs outline the policy regarding the facility’s issues. It says “No dangerous waste.” Others list electronics and household items that are not acceptable because they may contain toxic substances.
The newly installed sign warns that any incoming fire fragments require a certificate to ensure that they are non-hazardous. However, that provision only applies to private contractors. This is not a garbage-employed crew and is not participating in debris removal.
“You cannot bring batteries or spray paint into this landfill,” said Dallas Lawrence, an Agra Hills resident and president of the Las Villegenes School Board in Calabasas. “But now they allow hundreds of thousands of tons of burnt batteries, paint chips and more in this community. It’s puzzling.”
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials say they cleaned up visible hazardous materials, such as batteries, from thousands of sites before the Army Corps oversaw the disposal of ashes and other tile blemishes.
Lawrence said he is concerned about children whose homes and schools are within a mile of the landfill.
“Our youngest children are most susceptible to damage to these chemicals,” Lawrence said. “There are many other places. There’s one very clear task in our community. And it pauses this process and puts the actual environmental impact on the county, state and federal governments. It’s about researching and putting together a plan to ensure that toxic chemicals don’t enter the residential community.”
Dozens of people protested this week outside Van Gogh Elementary School, a school about a mile from the Sunshine Canyon landfill. The landfill is located on a mountain path with strong winds, and neighbors fear toxic dust and ashes will be blown downwind.
“They are literally wearing dangerous suits and they scooped up all this material because they’re dangerous,” said resident Eric Pfefferman.
“If they’re depositing it, there’s some of that material that will dry out from 6am to 7pm. The Santa Ana wind keeps blowing, and it’s particulate matter, dust. , could disperse the ashes into the Northern San Fernando Valley.”
The landfill, added by Fefferman, stands to make significant profits by accepting huge amounts of debris. Many landfills are privately owned and charge around $100 per tonne to accept urban waste or construction debris.
Los Angeles City Councilman John Lee, on behalf of the northwest San Fernando Valley, put a legal action last week to temporarily block the remains of wildfires from being dumped in Sunshine Canyon. We have introduced measures to require the use of test. The movement has been approved
“The proposal for a Sunshine Canyon landfill is a shame to the community near this landfill,” Lee said, to accept this debris without adequate testing and supervision. “Our district already faces many environmental challenges and I simply can’t allow another district to go to our neighborhood.”
A representative of Republic Services, owner of Sunshine Canyon, said the landfill is equipped to dispose of incoming fire debris.
“Sunshine Canyon is a strong community partner and a responsible option for this unchallenged waste,” the statement read. “We have extensive experience in treating fire waste. The landfill has state-of-the-art liner systems, cover systems and robust gas collection systems to ensure that materials are managed safely and responsibly. I’ll do it.”
Calabasas city officials also tapped on the city’s lawyer to explore legal remedies that would suspend the flow of debris into the Coravasas landfill.
Some elected officials complain about the lack of transparency. No public institutions do not provide a comprehensive list of landfills accepting this shard or the routes used to carry it.
Los Angeles County superintendent Lindsey Horvas said he shared the dissatisfaction of residents. She held City Hall for community members who live near several of these landfills. However, she said the information she received was still insufficient.
“It’s a bureaucratic disaster. It’s unacceptable and has to be over,” Horvath said in a statement. “At every level of government, our community has not been able to provide basic information worthy of a fire debris disposal plan.”
Swenson said Corona’s Simi Valley Reclamation, Calabasas Reclamation, Azusa Land Reclamation, Sunshine Canyon Reclamation and El Sobrante Reclamation are expected to receive the remains of the disaster. .
Riverside County’s Rum Canyon and Badlands landfills also requested emergency exemptions for tonnage increases. County spokesman Brook Federico said these landfills would normally take a refusal to go to El Soblante.
This week at the Calabasas landfill, a truck blocked by protesters, turned around and was kicked out an hour later.
The crowd erupted in cheers. Shipping of debris detained in a Calabasas landfill has been suspended for a week, waiting for a meeting of the LA County Board of Supervisors next week.
“Today, we saw our community stand up as our state and county leaders are missing in action,” Lawrence said. “So the community got up. We came together. Today we closed the landfill.”
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