Fire waste headed for collection sites in Malibu, Azusa; but some cities aren’t happy about one site

The EPA is opening two sites — one in Malibu and the other in Azusa — for the collection and sorting of hazardous materials taken from the recent Palisades and Eaton wildfires. The San Gabriel Valley site, however, has sparked opposition among neighboring cities.

“We are doing everything we can to stop it,” said Duarte City Councilmember Margaret Finlay about the site at Lario Park, where Eaton fire waste will go. “It seems like the wrong place to have it.”

The Malibu waste collection site will be for debris from the Palisades fire and is located on empty parcels roughly located near the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Topanga Canyon Boulevard, said Rusty Harris-Bishop, a site cleanup section manager for the U.S. EPA.

The site for Eaton fire debris is at Lario Park, a Los Angeles County park at 15701 Foothill Blvd., located along the eastern bank of the San Gabriel River in Azusa, Harris-Bishop and local officials reported. City officials from Azusa, Duarte, Irwindale and Baldwin Park all oppose the location.

Despite efforts by cities to move the site, the Lario Park collection site began taking hazardous waste from the Eaton fire properties Monday afternoon, said Anna Drabek, spokesperson for the EPA. The Malibu site will begin taking hazardous waste in the next few days, but Drabek was not sure of the exact starting date, she said.

“I am deeply concerned by the Environmental Protection Agency and their decision to designate Lario Park as a collection and processing site for hazardous materials left behind by the Eaton Fire, including lithium electric vehicle batteries. These materials pose significant environmental and health risks, especially in residential areas,” said LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis in a statement.

This material is part of the first phase of debris removal from more than 15,000 structures destroyed in the two fires. The items being taken to the collection sites have been pre-identified as hazardous waste and must be identified and removed as a first step, before the remaining fire debris is removed in phase two, reported Los Angeles County and the EPA.

The hazardous materials removal is at no cost to the property owners, the EPA reported.

Household hazardous waste from the fires include items such as: paint, cleansers, oils, propane tanks and batteries, including lithium-ion batteries from vehicles and homes, as well as asbestos. The hazardous materials being removed from burned out homes and businesses will be taken to these sites, sorted and put into containers for disposal in hazardous waste landfills, according to the EPA.

“It is a variety of things you have in your garage or your kitchen or pool,” said Harris-Bishop. “Household hazardous waste such as paint cans, pesticides and propane cannisters.”

Local officials and residents of Azusa, Duarte, Irwindale and Baldwin Park are opposed to the temporary waste collection site at the San Gabriel River, saying it is inappropriate, can potentially expose residents to toxic waste and a danger to the nearby underground water supply used by thousands of residents.

“This is a watershed area,” said Finlay, from Duarte. “Why are they doing it there?”

Finlay suggested the EPA do the waste collection and sorting in a site within the Eaton fire zone, not miles away in an unaffected area directly near residents of Azusa and Duarte.

Drabek said this is standard procedure for removal of debris from natural disasters. Also, Bishop-Harris said the procedures used will be carefully performed and are safe for all concerned.

“We are taking hazardous materials that are out in the open and we are properly packing them, shipping them for disposal to hazardous waste landfills, so they don’t get out into the environment,” he added.

The EPA told officials from Azusa, Duarte, Irwindale and even Monrovia and Arcadia who gathered at the Lario Park site on Monday that the trucks carrying hazardous waste from burned down homes and businesses in Altadena and north Pasadena will not use the 210 Freeway, but only take surface streets.

“That means it will be surface streets coming through our city, and through Monrovia. What if the trash falls of the truck?” asked Finlay.

Azusa Mayor Robert Gonzales, who was at the site and spoke with EPA officials on Monday, said Azusa wants to help residents of Altadena and Pasadena who lost their homes. But he said he was angry that the EPA, operating at the direction of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, did not inform his city about the waste collection site.

Gonzales was not convinced that the materials collected from the ashes will not become airborne and contaminate the air, or seep into the groundwater. He said he was somewhat reassured when he saw the berms placed along the river to keep out contaminants and that EPA will be monitoring the air for particulate matter.

Bishop-Harris said the EPA needs a temporary location to place the materials and properly ship them to hazardous waste landfills that can accept them.

He said the operations will take several months at each location.

The city of Baldwin Park joined Duarte and Azusa in opposing the Lario Park site.

“Baldwin Park’s primary concern is the health and safety of our 75,000 residents. The EPA’s decision to establish this processing facility without prior consultation with local jurisdictions shows a concerning lack of transparency and community engagement,” said the city in a statement released Monday afternoon.

The Duarte City Council will discuss the issue and allow residents to comment and ask questions at their regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 28, beginning at 7 p.m. at the council chambers, 1600 Huntington Drive, Duarte.

A second meeting for residents of Duarte, Monrovia, Irwindale, Azusa and Baldwin Park is planned for Wednesday, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Duarte Performing Arts Center, 1401 Highland Ave. “This is to let people vent,” Finlay said.