Livid residents protest dangerously close toxic LA wildfire waste dumps: Find another place
The Environmental Protection Agency is scrambling to clear out debris from the wildfires that torched around 12,000 homes in Los Angeles — but some people aren’t happy about where the toxic waste is being dumped.Enraged SoCal residents are protesting makeshift toxic waste dumps they say threaten their drinking water and natural environment with chants of “find another place” at furious meetings.As the EPA rushes to meet a 30-day debris removal deadline mandated by the Trump administration, it has chosen four temporary staging sites to hold the waste until it can be sorted and shuttled to recycling centers or landfills.The agency has assured residents that toxic chemicals from these sites won’t contaminate the air, soil and water, but many remain unconvinced.“When the air that we breathe is under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” demonstrators in Duarte, near a waste dump in Lario Park, chanted, according to Fox 11.
Lario Park is on land owned by the Army Corps of Engineers and leased to LA County for use as a recreation area.Residents of four nearby cities were given no warning before truckloads of hazardous debris began rolling in.Hundreds of locals drilled officials for details about the safety of the dump site at a community meeting last week, responding to their vague assurances with shouts of “find another place!”Residents are also speaking out against a staging area in Topanga Canyon, an unincorporated community near the site of the Palisades Fire.
An online petition against the dump has garnered 12,700 signatures — which is more than the actual population of the community.“The site is dangerously close to Topanga Creek, a vital watershed,” the petition’s page reads.“We are deeply concerned that contaminants from the debris could leach into the soil and waterways.”In the Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Traci Park spoke out against the decision to use the Will Rogers State Beach parking lot to dump d...