The unprecedented Los Angeles wildfires nearly two months ago burnt down entire communities and displaced thousands of people have all been contained, but the questions about the extent of the remaining environmental disaster — and its impact on local communities — are still going strong.
Almost immediately after the fires broke out, many environmental experts warned that this is an urban wildfire unlike any we’ve seen before. So comparisons to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, other wildfires and major clean-up efforts were bound to fall short, they argued.
Months after the first fires broke out, many remain homeless, trying to get back to their communities or acquire access to potable water. For many others, concerns remain about the safety of air and water quality in the larger LA area, the second largest city in the United States.
Few people in the area were immune to the fires: Ross Gerber, a climate activist, early Tesla investor and CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management, was only able to return to his Pacific Palisades home in early March.
"It's an environmental disaster, and they [city authorities] are pretending like, ‘Oh, it'll just go away.’ But now it's sitting on our beaches, and it's just like going into the sand, and it's possible that, if they don't deal with this, it could be years of contamination for the LA beaches or more,” Gerber told Salon.
Even influential money managers like Gerber felt seemingly helpless in the face of local governments’ response to the wildfires and their immediate aftermath.
"The lifeguards are standing there, and I was like, ‘Dude, you're not going to tell these people to get out of the water?’” he said, describing a recent encounter on a beach. “They're literally wading in toxic s**t. It's all over. And they're like, ‘Yeah, whatever.’ I figured if I started telling people to get their kids out of the water, they would be like, ‘leave us alone.’"
Gerber has not been the only one concerned about the local response and on-the-ground application of city guidelines, as public officials scrambled to balance public safety with political considerations.
“We’re in a race against time to stop disaster after the disaster,” Jane Williams, executive director at California Communities Against Toxics, warned during a webinar hosted by Coalition for Clean Air back on January 16, immediately comparing the Los Angeles wildfires to the impact of 9/11. “[That was] one of the largest public health disasters in the country’s history, and we’re faced with exactly the same problem in Los Angeles now: trying to intercept those exposures.”
Local authorities' response and messaging on health risks has been uneven, with many displaced residents struggling to get clear guidelines on the timeline of the cleanup or the status of the potable water in their districts.
In Pacific Palisades, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power found trace levels of benzene, a known carcinogen, in several locations and is still working on resolving the contamination, the Los Angeles Times reported. Meanwhile, Altadena communities are still waiting for the final clearance from the state to lift the “do not drink” notices.
Many residents have turned to local Facebook groups and private messaging boards in an attempt to navigate local bureaucracies, often making tough, personal calls on what is safe for their families.
The popularity of electric vehicles in California and the volume of electric cars damaged in the fires have added another layer of complexity to the cleanup efforts.
Steve Calanog, the EPA's incident commander for the Palisades and Eaton fires called it “probably the largest lithium-ion battery pickup, cleanup, that's ever happened in the history of the world,” according to an NBC Los Angeles report.
While some beaches that were previously closed due to fire debris have reopened, others remain closed. Health officials advise the public to check on the latest updates from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health or call the beach closure hotline at 1-800-525-5662 for the latest information.
When it comes to air quality, officials have mostly warned about avoiding outdoor activities in areas with visible ash or poor air quality, but some safety experts say that many toxic particles could be hard to see.
“The particles are so small they can get into the brain,” said Ed Avol, professor emeritus at USC School of Medicine at the same Coalition for Clean Air event. “The ability to focus, pay attention in school, dementia – we’re looking at a range of outcomes. It affects your metabolic system.”
While California Governor Gavin Newsom touted “the fastest-ever hazardous debris removal effort in the nation” as of February 25, many questions about the safety of air, water and long-term health impact remain. Newsom’s office did not respond to Salon’s request for comment.
“They're driving those trucks right through West LA right through residential neighborhoods,” Gerber said of the ongoing clean up efforts. “The whole idea that they're using any level of safety is absurd."
