Pasadena health officer: Air quality threat from fires subsides
AQMD launches air quality monitors for Palisades, Eaton fire areas
Pg 32
Pg 02
VISIT HEYSOCAL.COM
Thursday, February 27-March 05, 2025
Local. Relevant. Trusted.
VOL. 14,
NO. 212
LA County increases waste disposal limits at landfills for fire debris
Bass replaces LA fire chief over Palisades Fire mistakes
By Anusha Shankar, City News Service
joet@beaconmedianews.com
By Joe Taglieri
D
espite vocal opposition from residents concerned about public and environmental safety, the county Board of Supervisors unanimously approved increases in daily allowable dumping limits at the Lancaster Landfill and the Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Granada Hills Tuesday to handle disposal of debris from the Palisades and Eaton fires. The board also agreed to temporarily remove dumping restrictions at the Calabasas Landfill, allowing it to also accept fire debris. That landfill is generally restricted to accepting waste only from Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills, Malibu, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, some parts of Los Angeles and select incorporated areas. The board's vote will allow the landfill to accept material from outside that area for six months, with possible extensions. The Sunshine Canyon and Lancaster landfills were temporarily allowed to increase their daily tonnage limits for 120 days. The daily tonnage limit for Sunshine Canyon
Kristin Crowley, former Los Angeles Fire Department chief. | Photo courtesy of the LA County Fire Department
Earth movers are a common feature in burn areas as debris removal work continues. | Photo courtesy of USACE HQ/X
Landfill was increased from 12,000 tons to 15,000 tons per day, while the limit at Lancaster Landfill was authorized to more than double from the original 3,000 tons per day, to 7,000 tons. The Lancaster dump has already been operating under a temporary waiver allowing it to accept up to 5,000 tons per day, since it has been accepting waste from the earlier Bridge Fire. A vocal group of residents crowded into the
Board of Supervisors meeting to protest the dumping of fire waste at the various landfills, calling out the potential toxicity spread from the waste disposal. Calabasas Mayor Peter Kraut and Mayor pro tem James Bozajian said the city was opposed the acceptance of the fire debris at the Calabasas Landfill. "We have little reason to believe hazardous and nonSee Fire debris Page 16
hazardous materials can be separated," Bozajian said. County and federal officials insisted at the meeting that hazardous wastes removed from the fire zones by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were not being taken to any of the landfills, but instead to other dumps that are capable of handling such debris. They also contended that the fire debris such as ash and wood
L
os Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Friday removed Kristin Crowley from her position as fire chief. Recently retired Chief Deputy Ronnie Villanueva, a 41-year LAFD veteran, will serve as interim fire chief, Bass announced. “Acting in the best interests of Los Angeles’ public safety, and for the operations of the Los Angeles Fire Department, I have removed Kristin Crowley as fire chief,” Bass said in a statement. “We know that 1,000 firefighters that could have been on duty on the morning the fires broke out were instead sent home on Chief Crowley’s watch. Furthermore, a necessary step to an investigation was the president of the fire commission telling Chief Crowley to do an after action report on the fires. The chief refused. These require her removal." Crowley issued a statement Saturday. "As a humble public servant for over the past 30 years, 25 of those with the LAFD, it has been an absolute honor to See Fire chief Page 31