EPA Speeds up Phase 1; Army Corp Starts Phase 2
The estimated timeline for the toxic cleanup of neighborhoods decimated by the recent wildfires has improved thanks to an increased amount of state and federal assistance, officials announced this week.
Originally, recovery experts had predicted that it would take 3-6 months for the Environmental Protection Agency to catalogue and remove the most egregious of the hazardous materials and then an additional 12-18 months for the US Army Corp of Engineers to complete a thorough removal of the debris.
But after strong public outcry that the rebuild of the Pacific Palisades and Altadena communities couldn’t begin for 2 years, officials scrambled to tighten the timelines by bringing in additional resources.
The EPA announced earlier this week that it would complete Phase 1 in 3 months. And the USACE said “80-90% of properties would be cleaned in a year or less.”
In fact, the first Phase 2 cleanup by the USACE started at two schools in the Pasadena Unified School District, the county announced yesterday.
For the Phase 2 cleanup, property owners have to file a Right of Entry form, either opting into the corps service or opting out. Those forms must be filled out by March 31.
The sooner they are turned in to the county, the sooner the county hands them over to the Army Corps and the sooner the corps can begin planning.
