LA County begins phase 2 debris removal as thousands opt into right-of-entry program

Supervisors and county officials said Los Angeles County has begun phase 2 debris removal in parts of Altadena and urged eligible property owners to submit right-of-entry (ROE) forms so the county and its federal partners can clear hazardous fire debris without charge. County Public Works Director Mark Pastrella said 6,498 ROE forms have been received and that nearly 13,000 properties are affected.

The ROE program allows government crews to enter properties to remove hazardous debris and to plan removal work in coordinated batches. “Once you opt in your ROE’s in with us, we get you going, we send that off to the Army Corps of Engineers and we start planning how these properties get cleared,” Pastrella said. He added that neighborhood-level coordination helps crews operate more efficiently.

Nut graf: Officials framed ROE signups as the fastest path to debris removal and emphasized the scale of the cleanup: fire-damaged properties have produced an estimated 4,500,000 tonnes of debris, about half of the county’s normal annual waste stream, county engineers said. County staff and federal partners are working to stabilize sites, remove hazardous materials, and reduce risk to people and infrastructure.

Public Works and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are coordinating staging and removal. Colonel Eric Swenson of the Corps said phase 2 has begun work at five Pasadena Unified School District sites and that residential clearance will start once the first batch of ROEs is processed. “We have started phase 2, debris removal and I’m pleased to announce that we’ve got 5 schools in the Pasadena Unified School District that are on our runway and we may even have 1 of them complete in the next day or 2,” Swenson said.

The county-designated cleanup includes materials that may contain asbestos, lead, mercury and other legacy pollutants from building materials. Pastrella said crews have stabilized work sites to protect people, property and the environment and that removal involves coordination with the EPA, Army Corps and FEMA.

Officials stressed continuing safety precautions as rain forecasts raised the risk of slope failures and mudslides. Pastrella recommended that residents in burn areas shelter in place while rain is occurring and use county-provided sandbagging and engineering advice where appropriate. County staff said building permits may be submitted while debris removal is underway.

Ending: Officials said workshops for local contractors, engineers and architects will be scheduled to expand the workforce and streamline debris removal and rebuilding; the county’s recovery website (recovery.lacounty.gov) hosts current guidance and ROE instructions.