Altadena residents whose homes are still standing after the Eaton Fire are protesting the use of the nearby Altadena Golf Course as a debris recycling site, a site which will will see ramped-up clean-up activity beginning Monday.
About 50 people on Sunday, March 30, wielded signs that read “Don’t poison us,” “Cloud of cancer” and “Protect our community” in front of the 12-acre golf course, the site of hazardous waste collection by the EPA. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began leasing the site in late February. Materials recycling is set to begin on Monday.
At the protest, the second in a week, Jordi Frayre, 11, held up a sign shaped like a black coffin with the message: “I want to play outside.”
A fifth-grader at Field Elementary in Pasadena, Jordi said he wants to move back home and play with his friends.
“I want to play Nerf Wars and soccer and it will be really sad if we can’t because of what’s happening here,” he said.
His mother, Alissa Marquez, 47, said she attended an open house at the golf course on Saturday, offered by the Army Corps and including the contractor slated to complete the recycling on the premises.
“We are concerned for the health implications of this facility, specifically the dust and particulate matter that will be produced by the crushed concrete and metal and toxic vegetation,” she said. “I was there to get answers and be open to solutions,” but came away without any reassurance.
“There are still red flags,” she said, such as dust mitigations, which will only be done during the center’s hours of operation from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.
“I understand they do that for the employees, but we’re going to be home 24 hours,” Marquez said. “Someone needs to be looking out for the residents.”
Karen Walker, 57, said she doesn’t understand why the recycling can’t be done in industrial sites already cleared to do that kind of work. Rushing the cleanup is like saying “I don’t want to put my baby in a car seat because I don’t have the time,” she said.
“We’re scared to see where this is going,” Walker said. “No one will look us in the eye and tell us its safe. They’re poisoning the last neighborhood standing.”
“For the goal of being efficient, our health is being compromised,” said longtime Altadenan Kevin Singleton. “By trying to solve one problem, they’re creating another. It might take 20 times longer (to clear debris) but at least you’re not sacrificing people’s health.”
Jane Lawton Potelle, 51, is one of the founders of Eaton Fire Residents United, which is gathering data about contamination patterns after the fire.
According to its map, released March 24, and based on reports submitted by property owners before professional remediation, the most contaminated homes are located around the golf course.
Their findings align with a study done by Caltech geochemists that showed that lead and other heavy metals were transported by the fire plume and have contaminated outdoor and indoor surfaces even beyond the burn zone.
“Why would you want to crush concrete and make it worse in what are already the most contaminated homes?” Potelle asked. “We are living in a toxic soup and we need to recognize the dangers to those of us with standing homes. We are being forced back into our properties and having to live in the contamination.”
Simply saying the operation is safe is not good enough, she added.
“Ignorance doesn’t make it safe, by what measure and by what science is it safe? Our health is on the line, we’re going into debt and where is the oversight and the protocol to protect those with standing homes?”
In a statement, the U.S. Army Corps, with Col. Sonny Avichal serving as commander of the Army Corps field operations for the cleanup, said every aspect of its operations, including sorting, recycling, and air quality monitoring, meets or exceeds federal, state, and local safety regulations.
“We have been actively reaching out to residents to share information, answer questions, and listen to concerns,” the statement read. “From knocking on doors in the neighborhood to participating in town halls and a late-evening webinar, we want to ensure the community understands the protective measures in place before work begins Monday. We continue to work closely with public health agencies and environmental regulators to ensure all necessary safeguards are in place and to keep the community informed.
“The use of the golf course site for material recycling is a critical component of debris removal operations, designed to safely and efficiently support the community’s recovery. Keeping recyclable material closer to the impacted area significantly reduces the number of trucks on the road, shortens haul distances, and speeds up the entire process, helping residents move forward in their recovery journey as quickly and safely as possible.”
Ash, contaminated soil and materials containing asbestos will be prohibited from the area, the agency said, equipment will be fitted with mufflers to reduce noise. Air quality data will be provided to public health agencies.
John Newell said the Army Corps hasn’t been doing any public outreach that is helping him find out what protections are being readied for residents, especially since the golf course will serve as a debris recycling center for 10 months.
“We want to go home and we can’t move back because of this,” he said. “All they tell us is it’s safe. But I don’t trust them. I don’t believe them. If nothing else, they’re supposed to protect us. I’m just disappointed in our government.”
Vibiana Aparicio-Chamberlin, 82, drove from her Pasadena home to the protest and fight for her children and grandchildren.
“We can’t even think about if we’re hopeful this will help or not, we just do it,” she said of raising their collective voices on the street. “You can’t give up.”