Well over 100 residents gathered at the Calabasas landfill off Lost Hills Road this week to protest the dumping of toxic debris from the Palisades Fire.
The landfill is close to a community park and a school, and the men, women and children gathered there chanted over and over, “Calabasas says no way; take your poison ash away.”
The protests were led by Michelle Geller and Natasha Downing, two of the several organizers of “Protect Calabasas,” a grass-roots effort that was formed after a Calabasas City Council meeting to discuss possible toxic debris being dumped at the landfill.
During the protest several trucks from Take 2 Services filled with leaking tarps were blocked from entering the landfill.
Valley News Group called Take 2 and was told that those trucks were not filled with fire debris but detritus from a Malibu Canyon construction site. Organizers of the protest didn’t buy that and refused to let the trucks pass the crowd.
City officials also attended the protest along with representatives of the Las Virgenes Unified School District.
The City has in fact filed with the court for a temporary restraining order to halt any dumping of material in Calabasas until it has been tested and deemed non-hazardous. The Calabasas Landfill up to now has not, under County rules, been permitted to accept hazardous waste.
The organizers of Protect Calabasas are also raising funds to hire a lawyer to fight fire debris disposal locally, and are garnering signatures on a petition at protectcalabasas.org.
The County of Los Angeles did announce Thursday that it will start a “comprehensive” testing of soil in both the areas of the Eaton and Palisades Fires in response to residents’ concerns.
The testing will continue through March and results will be posted online.
FEMA officials, however, stood their ground that they didn’t need to test, and that removing six inches of soil and ash from the burn areas was enough precaution.
That material is then sorted, wet down to stop ash or debris to prevent escaping, and put in the back of plastic lined trucks for transportation.
Protesters, City and school officials don’t want that material transported to Calabasas until after it’s been thoroughly tested.
A judge will rule on the City’s Temporary Restraining Order this Friday.
See related editorials on page 4 of this paper.
