Federal Authorities Will Not Test Soil After LA Fires, Despite Fears Of Multiple Toxins In Burned Areas
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Wednesday that it won’t order soil testing at properties damaged by the Eaton and Palisades fires after they have been cleaned by private federal contractors — breaking with a long-standing safeguard to ensure no lingering contamination is left behind after wildfires. Federal and state agencies have called for soil samples to be collected and analyzed at homes and schools cleaned by work crews after nearly every major wildfire in California for the last two decades.
The process, known as confirmation sampling, is intended to verify that the soil at these properties no longer harbors toxic chemicals above the state’s cleanup standards once toxic-laden ash and rubble are removed, along with up to six inches of topsoil. But now, on the heels of the most costly wildfires in the state’s history, Army Corps officials are saying that excavating six inches of topsoil is enough to rid fire-devastated properties of hazardous pollution.
At a news conference in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, Army Corps Col. Eric Swenson explained the decision by saying soil sampling wasn’t authorized in this disaster response. “When the state does a request for direct federal assistance ... they make that request of [the Federal Emergency Management Agency],” Swenson said. “And we get brought on to do a specific scope. And so these are the limits of what we can do under this disaster.” The Army Corps is told “‘these are our instructions and guidelines,’ and we have to stick to those guidelines,” he added. FEMA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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The move will probably shift the burden to homeowners, businesses and school districts to pay for testing and to potentially arrange for more contaminated soil to be removed. Under California policy, contaminated soil should be removed until wildfire-affected properties come under state limits for toxic contamination, according to wildfire experts. “If they’re not willing to do confirmatory sampling, that tells us they’re willing to leave the properties contaminated,” said Jane Williams, executive director of California Communities Against Toxics. “They’re willing to leave people at risk.”
Ed. - Uh, duh.
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https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-02-12/feds-wont-test-soil-after-wildfire-cleanup-potentially-leaving-contamination-behind