Palisades Fire debris site at Will Rogers State Beach met with controversy
Palisades Fire debris to be processed at local beach
Debris from the Palisades Fire are set to be processed on the Will Rogers State Beach parking lot.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving forward with plans to temporarily store hazardous waste from the Palisades Fire burn zone at a Los Angeles County Beach.
The agency announced the move after working with the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), and the county to use the parking lot of Will Rogers State Beach in the Pacific Palisades as a staging area for hazardous materials from nearby properties.
The beach parking lot at the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Temescal Canyon Road will mark the second collection site for hazardous waste from the Palisades Fire zone.
Dozens of protesters with environmental concerns gathered at another waste site for the Palisades Fire that was set up on a six-acre parcel of land near PCH and Topanga Canyon Boulevard the week prior.
Less than three miles down the coast, the location at Will Rogers State Beach will serve as a temporary site before damaged household hazardous materials like paint, oil, and lithium-ion batteries are processed, securely packaged, and safely loaded for transportation to a permanent disposal or recycling facility outside of the area, according to EPA officials.
The beach parking lot is a California State Parks property that has been operated by Los Angeles County for more than 50 years through an agreement with State Parks.
After voicing opposition to the EPA’s earlier proposal to use Malibu’s Civic cCnter area as a waste collection site, Mayor Doug Stewart expressed his approval of the new site in a statement that reads in part:
"The addition of a second temporary EPA processing site at Will Rogers State Beach Parking Lot is an important step in ensuring hazardous materials are removed safely and efficiently, helping impacted residents move forward in rebuilding their homes."
The temporary processing site is closed to the public while EPA officials say they will use best management practices to process any hazardous materials and keep it contained within the facility. Throughout the process officials say air monitoring will be conducted to ensure that operations in and around the site are not posing any health risks."
Los Angeles City Councilmember Traci Park opposes the new location citing the potential impacts to the nearby coastal ecosystem.
"I recommended to them that they look at locations in the burn area, in the already contaminated parts of my council district so we’re not engaging in a process of taking toxic materials from an area that is already contaminated and moving them over to the beach which is the most sensitive environmental area in the region," said Park following the EPA’s announcement.