Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday urged the US Federal Emergance Management Agency to reconsider its decision to conduct a post-clean soil test for wildfires in Los Angeles County.
The request elicited a quick response from FEMA: No.
Federal contractors are removing wildfire debris and 6 inches of topsoil from properties burned in Eaton and Palisades fires. But FEMA said last week No ordering soil testa long-term approach to ensure property meets California safety standards for toxic chemicals
The decision shocked California elected officials and residents who feared that the property declared by the fire could still contain dangerous concentrations of toxic chemicals in the soil.
Nancy Ward, director of the California Emergency Services Office, wrote to the agency Wednesday to reconsider its decision.
“If there is no sufficient soil test, the pollutants caused by the fire may still not be discovered, posing a risk to the returned residents, construction workers and the environment,” Ward wrote in a letter obtained by the Times. “No The ability to identify and remedy these fire-related pollutants may expose individuals to residual materials during reconstruction efforts and may harm groundwater and surface water quality.”
This letter is for Curtis Brown, Federal Coordinator of FEMAthis is the first sign that California officials are unhappy with the federal cleanup strategy. Officials announced that federal cleanup workers have just completed the first cleanup of a property in Palisades Fire.
Brown responded to Ward’s letter that soil testing jeopardized the speed and budget of cleaning.
“Soil testing will extend rehabilitation for several months,” Brown wrote in his response. “However, FEMA will not prevent state, local governments or personal property owners from doing soil tests if they are willing to do so. Unless the test shows a positive result,” Brown wrote. It is clearly attributed to the fire, otherwise FEMA would not reimburse the cost of soil testing.”
The speed at which debris is cleared has evolved rapidly as federally deployed staff aimed at removing some of the approximately 16,000 buildings destroyed in two wildfires to facilitate a rapid reconstruction process. However, some residents and elected officials expressed concern about the thoroughness of the disaster response, including soil sampling.
For nearly two decades, federal or state officials have ordered soil sampling for every major wildfire cleaning effort in California. The procedure is intended as a guarantee to prevent residents from returning lingering pollution.
About one-third of properties during the cleanup of 2018 Camp Fire Still containing toxic chemicals According to the state contractor’s report, even after 3 to 6 inches of topsoil was removed from 3 to 6 inches of topsoil, it even exceeded California’s cleaning standards. As a result, cleaners were sent to these properties to remove more soil and follow-up testing.
Ward said in the letter that past soil samples suggest that wildfire-related pollution may be much more than 6 inches. So Ward said soil testing is an essential part of the process.
But Brown clearly disagrees in his answer.
“This practice is boring, inefficient, and is a barrier to timely cleaning and recovery,” Brown wrote in the letter.
If contamination is found, cleaners will not return to remove additional soil layers and will not bring clean soil to add the highest soil, federal officials said.
Brown wrote: “We encourage the country to conduct soil testing, but [we] We believe that our current practices accelerate recovery while protecting and advancing public health and safety. ”
