The hidden crisis from the devastating wildfires in January affected those who did not lose their homes.
However, the onslaught of smoke and ash from the wind-whipped urban fires in the Palisades and Altadena/Pasadena has left thousands of contaminated houses that even 10 months since the fires, are not habitable, leaving homeowners displaced.
It’s these victims, who are caught in a kind of middle ground, that need help with testing of their yards for soils that may contain lead, and for indoor remediation to remove potentially harmful toxins from walls, ceilings, floors, carpets, drapes and window sills.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is hoping a new, $2 million funding grant awarded to the California Community Foundation can stand up a pilot program for lead-testing soils and remediation of residential properties in both fire zones, in order to help residents move back into safe, toxin-free homes.
The board approved a motion on Tuesday, Nov. 4 that asks its acting chief executive officer to send a letter of support to the CCF to implement this money for displaced parcel owners. The motion also includes sending a letter to California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara to come up with volume purchase agreements that prompts insurance companies to pay for remediation work, or in the very least, provide low-cost financing options for impacted residents.
The Eaton and Palisades fires displaced more than 200,000 people, destroyed more than 16,000 structures and burned over 40,000 acres. Today, seven out of 10 residents remain displaced — unable to live in their homes due to the high costs and lack of insurance payments for remediation.
Also, just one in 5 Altadena residents and one in 10 Pacific Palisades residents have returned to their existing pre-fire homes, L.A. County reported.
“We are in favor of funds going to remediation if it is well-handled and gets to the residents,” said Clara Goldfarb, whose house in Altadena remains one of four still standing on the block. She and her husband have been living in an apartment in Silver Lake and hope to be back in a few months, after interior remediation is done.
Why the slow recovery?
Standing homes did not have their soil cleared. Also, the Army Crops of Engineers and FEMA declined to do soil testing as part of the fire debris-removal process. This had been done in other fires, the county reported.
Universities, philanthropic organizations and LA County Department of Public Health stepped into the breach and did do some soil sampling but not each home was covered, leaving homeowners with doubts about the safety of their homes.
“Post-fire environmental sampling suggests that exposure to contaminants dangerous to humans is cause for concern,” the approved motion stated.
Samples of a Los Angeles County Public Health study released in early spring found a higher percentage of samples with lead levels above health-based screening thresholds taken from parcels downwind of the Eaton fire.
The lead findings in soil downwind from the Eaton fire area is consistent with reports of elevated lead in air samples following the fire and it attributed the source of lead to be from homes that burned containing lead-based paint, which is common in homes prior to 1979.
In the Palisades fire area, testing found localized chemical impacts in soil samples that were above health-based screening thresholds but there was no evidence of widespread contamination from fire-related chemicals.
In September, DPH confirmed the April findings, saying new studies showed elevated percentages of lead levels in soil samples taken from sites with still-standing homes downwind from the Eaton fire area. The samples were a notch above public health thresholds.
The testing was in an area known as the Eaton Fire Region, consisting of 70 sampling grids, with 23 of those grids containing intact homes (i.e., Minor/Affected Parcels, No Damage Parcels, Outside Fire Boundary Parcels), according to DPH.
Of the 23 grids for parcels with intact homes, 10 had average grid concentrations greater than the California Department of Toxic Substances Control’s (DTSC) residential soil screening level thresholds of 80 parts per million.
Low levels of lead can damage a child’s nervous system, causing learning disabilities, reduced IQ and attention span, hyperactivity, impaired growth and learning disabilities, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Lead has also caused tumors in laboratory animals and is listed as a probable carcinogen, according to the state DTSC.
The Goldfarbs paid out-of-pocket for soil tests on their side yard. Results varied from 136 ppm to 143 ppm, she said. “It is higher than it is supposed to be,” she said.
According to statements released Wednesday, Nov. 5 from Eaton Fire Residents United, out of a sample of 50 homes tested after remediation, 96% still test positive for lead. In 63%, lead levels on floors exceeded U.S. EPA screening thresholds, the group reported.
Those who’ve had their insurance payments for temporary housing cut off are forced to move back into homes that may not be safe, the group said.
L.A. County DPH has been giving free blood tests to individuals. The ideal blood lead level is zero. but the national average is about 2 micrograms per deciliter (mcg/dL). Levels of 3.5 mcg/dL are a concern. DPH has reported that blood testing in the Eaton fire area found the vast majority of tested residents have blood lead levels below the CDC reference value of 3.5 mcg/dL, the county reported.
Only seven adults of about 2,000 individuals tested had blood lead levels above the CDC reference value, the county reported.
The motion, authored by Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger, whose district includes Altadena and Pasadena, also asks county departments to pursue other funding sources to pay for more soil testing, including philanthropic organizations and universities.
“Philanthropic, private, local, state and federal opportunities should be explored,” read the motion. A report will return to the board in 60 days.
SCNG staff writers Ryan Carter and David Wilson contributed to this article.