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Glendora resident warns of toxic wildfire debris sorting at Larios Park; council cites ongoing monitoring
Summary
A resident urged the Glendora City Council to demand transparency and halt on-site wildfire debris sorting at Larios Park because of health and water concerns; the mayor and council said water agencies and federal partners are monitoring operations and that work will pause during heavy rain.
A Glendora resident warned the City Council on Feb. 14 that a wildfire debris sorting operation at Larios Park appears to pose a health and water-supply risk and urged the city to seek transparency and public briefings.
Resident Michael Moore told the council: “It looks like an open air swap meet.” He said he was concerned about toxins including “mercury, lead, asbestos, lithium” and other contaminants and asked the city to close the site until after heavy rains. “Our lives, our children's lives, our grandchildren's lives could be at stake here,” Moore said.
The concern arose during the meeting's public comment period. Moore asked for an investigation and a public town-hall meeting with county health officials and for information to be published online.
Mayor (presiding) said the city has engaged regional water managers and experts. He told the council that local water officials “are holding the EPA and FEMA's feet to the ground and core of engineers that they will not do something that will impact our water in a negative manner,” and said there is “constant monitoring both ground air and water monitoring going on.” He added that if heavy rains are expected, “that operation will cease operating until the rains subside enough to make it reasonable again.”
Councilmember Raymond (identified during the meeting as the person offering the website) directed residents to federal information: “EPA.gov/californiawildfires actually has links to the presentation that they made at the city of Azusa council meeting,” and noted the site includes a story map of sorting and storing locations.
Council discussion and the mayor's remarks characterized the concerns as serious and said neighboring jurisdictions are participating in monitoring and staging additional, smaller sorting sites in Altadena. No formal council action — such as a motion, referral, or emergency ordinance — was taken at the meeting; the item remained in the public-comment and informational stage.
The council encouraged residents to rely on factual, verified sources rather than conjecture and said the city and regional partners are tracking the operation and its effects on water and air quality.
For now, the city’s public statements at the meeting emphasized monitoring and a contingency to stop operations during heavy storms; residents seeking the latest federal materials were directed to EPA.gov/californiawildfires.
