The Government Is Dumping Toxic LA Fire Debris in Local Communities

The news cycle has moved on, but the fallout from the fires continues.

Three months after the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, the disaster is a faint memory to most of the country. The news cycle has moved on, but residents in some local communities are losing a battle for accountability from the state and federal government amid official efforts to clean up the debris.

The coordinated cleanup between varying levels of government began in February. The federal entities involved have included the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the US Army Corps of Engineers. The EPA and FEMA guided “Phase 1” cleanups, which focused on items like batteries, paints, oils, fertilizers, and pesticides. “Phase 2” then started, which included the removal of ash, soil, and destroyed vehicles. The information provided to the public regarding this process has been convoluted from the start; for example, one Los Angeles County government website says asbestos was removed in Phase 1, while a state government website says it has been part of Phase 2.

Regardless, thanks to a disaster proclamation from Governor Gavin Newsom, landfills that normally are not cleared to accept fire debris were authorized to receive it. While Newsom has touted his partnership with the Trump administration in their expedited cleanup, the reality on the ground is disturbing on multiple levels.

Some of the landfills that have accepted fire debris are exceptionally close to residential neighborhoods. This sparked fierce opposition in nearby communities. Despite loud protests from locals near participating landfills close to Sylmar, Granada Hills, Calabasas, Simi Valley, and Lancaster, the authorities pushed through with their plans (the same was true when residents protested Phase 1 cleanup processing sites).

One elected LA County supervisor who initially claimed to side with residents opposed to the fire debris dumping flip-flopped. Lindsey Horvath ultimately voted in favor of the unanimous decision to allow the “Sunshine Canyon” landfill and others to accept more debris beyond their existing limits. Residents’ concerns in affected areas have fallen by the wayside.

This, on its face, is bad enough. Ignoring the wishes of residents and constituents in favor of politically expedient solutions reveals a fundamental flaw in the current system. No matter what, people who don’t consent to certain policies—even ones that may harm them—don’t have a choice in the matter.

‘Safe’ toxins

But the hits keep coming. Officials ranging from local Los Angeles agencies all the way up to the federal government have insisted the debris is being handled safely and, as a result, is not a threat to residents who live near the landfills. Even so, the debris has not been fully tested because of emergency waivers and exceptions. Similarly, FEMA declined to test the leftover soil in burned areas, which could have ensured the toxins were fully removed (this would have been done following the removal of the top layer, which has been sent to the landfills during Phase 2).

Further, as the LA Times reported in February, landfill operators typically do not have proper equipment to test wildfire debris for contaminants like lead and asbestos. For its part, the Army Corps of Engineers says protocol is to send asbestos to the Azusa Land Reclamation landfill, which is authorized to accept it. But asbestos, even if properly handled, is not the only concern.

The same article notes some public officials have acknowledged the ash “likely contains a myriad of toxic substances from burned-down buildings, including brain-damaging lead and cancer-causing arsenic.” The US Army Corps of Engineers is purportedly searching for hazardous materials in the Phase 2 cleanup, but that has done little to ease communities’ fears.

A small study of firefighters who put out the blazes found elevated levels of toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) as well as heavy metals in their blood. While this is not the same type of exposure as storing debris in landfills could cause, it casts doubt on government assurances that the debris is safe to place in residential areas. It relies on assumptions that the debris will be meticulously handled. According to the Army Corps of Engineers, there are 4.5 million tons of debris to be cleared in Phase 2.

Given the rat’s nest of bureaucratic agencies involved, it’s hard to have full faith in those in charge. Further, the first phase of the process, which was supposed to clear out the worst hazards, was rushed. This was in part due to an order from President Trump to expedite the cleanup. Phase 1 was deemed finished in roughly one month. By comparison, Phase 1 of the 2023 Maui fire cleanup took about three months and covered a much smaller number of destroyed structures. These structures often contain hazardous materials.

One state senator raised concerns about photos and video footage that allegedly show improperly packaged debris. A spokesperson for the LA County Sanitation Districts disputed the claim as misinformation. However, given the expedited interagency process and apparent conflicting information from various agencies, it’s understandable that residents are concerned about the thoroughness of the process.

A long train of abuses

Adding insult to injury, one of the landfills now bypassing existing codes to accept fire debris has a long history of complaints, mismanagement, and violations. Sunshine Canyon received 2,187 complaints and 65 notices of violation in 2024 alone. Residents have long voiced concerns about foul odors year-round that they believe cause health issues. The odor problems are at least in part due to improper waste management, often in violation of existing rules.

For his part, the mayor of Calabasas, for example, vowed to impose strict monitoring of any debris brought to the Calabasas landfill. While the other landfills do not have glaring code violations like Sunshine Canyon, they have significantly increased their tonnage thanks to their acceptance of likely toxic fire debris. Residents are left to simply trust that debris has been properly handled.

Some of these communities have long struggled for accountability regarding environmental toxins. Granada Hills and nearby communities are still fighting for accountability for the 2015 SoCalGas methane gas leak—the largest in US history—that spewed toxic fumes into the area for months and sickened adults, children, and pets. Despite campaign promises from Gavin Newsom to hasten the facility’s closure, it is still in operation. Some of his appointees to the California Public Utilities Commission have approved increases in operations.

In Simi Valley, residents and activists are still fighting for the Boeing Company and federal and state government agencies to conduct a proper cleanup of a partial nuclear meltdown that occurred in 1959. That disaster is believed to have released more radioactivity than Three Mile Island. The site went on to host decades of ongoing rocket testing and sodium burn pits. Boeing and responsible government agencies have failed to facilitate an adequate cleanup despite Newsom telling the public he has it handled.

The fire debris from January’s wildfires obviously must be cleaned up. Residents near the landfills have expressed that they sympathize with those who lost their homes and were exposed to extensive toxins. The communities near these landfills want the mess to be properly handled, but not at the expense of their own well-being.

Situations like these are not unique to Southern California. Sometimes it’s failures of government bureaucracy alone. Other times, it’s the insidious relationship between government and private contractors, which kills incentives to serve taxpayers and customers. All too often, these two dynamics converge. Regardless, without fail, the people they are supposed to be serving suffer the worst consequences.