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Lancaster officials weigh legal steps over fire ash disposal as residents push back on proposed encampment sites
Summary
Councilmembers and residents raised concerns about plans to bring post‑wildfire ash into local landfills and about a possible temporary homeless encampment on a former golf course. The city attorney said staff are exploring an injunction; residents and advocacy groups urged alternative sites and protections.
Lancaster City Council heard extensive public comment and internal discussion about two community issues: the possible transport and disposal of ash from recent fires, and rumor/early proposals to locate a temporary homeless encampment on a vacant golf‑course parcel.
Councilmembers and residents expressed health, infrastructure and equity concerns about a county plan (under consideration by the Board of Supervisors) that could direct 3,000 to 7,000 tons per day of fire debris to local landfill sites. Speakers raised the possibility that ash could contain PFAS and other persistent contaminants that might infiltrate groundwater over time.
“Can you tell that I'm not thinking this is a great idea to let them bring all this stuff up here?” a councilmember asked during the meeting, summarizing council…
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