LA County wildfires generated 4.5M tons of waste

KABC reports that the January wildfires in Los Angeles County generated 4.5 million tons of waste, nearly half of the county’s typical annual waste total of 11 million tons. 

L.A. County Public Works Director Mark Pestrella said during a Feb. 5 press conference that debris removal efforts continue and that there is still the potential danger of mudslides and debris flows from rainfall. 

County officials have urged fire-affected residents to fill out “Right of Entry” forms to either opt in or out of the free Phase 2 debris-clearance program offered through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. According to KABC, residents have until March 31 to complete the forms, available online at recovery.lacounty.gov/debris-removal or any FEMA Disaster Recovery Center.

County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said roughly half of the affected residents in the Eaton and Palisades fire areas have filled out the forms to opt into the clearance program.  Residents also have the option of opting out of the program and hiring their own private contractors to perform the work. But that work cannot proceed until the EPA completes its waste-removal program, which is expected to take at least a month.

Status updates on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA's) work, including an interactive map of individual fire-affected properties, are available online at epa.gov/ca/2025-california-wildfires.

Since the EPA was assigned by FEMA to begin work on Jan. 14, the agency has begun collecting household hazardous waste and lithium-ion batteries. The EPA also has set up two staging areas in Altadena, California, and is looking to identify a third staging area. In Phase 1 of the recovery effort, EPA completed hazardous materials removal at 1,153 properties.

Recently sworn-in EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin traveled to the area to survey damage and meet with EPA personnel on Feb. 6.