State officials have submitted final inspections reports to officials in Los Angeles and Ventura counties for 50.2 percent of the 924 properties affected by last November’s Woolsey and Hill fires that are participating in the state’s Consolidated Debris Removal Program, the Debris Removal Operations Center (DROC) in Calabasas reported today.
To date, debris officials have submitted 422 final inspection reports to officials in Los Angeles County and 42 to officials in Ventura County. The 422 reports submitted to officials in Los Angeles County represents 51.1 percent of its 826 eligible properties, while the 42 reports submitted to authorities in Ventura County represents 42.9 percent of its 98 eligible properties. Submission of the final inspection reports clears the way for owners to those properties to begin reconstruction.
Earlier state contractors conducted site assessments; asbestos surveys and abatements, where required on each site. Crews also removed burned metal, concrete, ash and contaminated soil before taking soil samples for later testing and analysis at a state-certified laboratory.
Once the state-certified laboratory confirmed that the soil samples taken from each property met state environmental and health standards, contractors installed fiber rolls and applied a wood-based, biodegradable mulch to each cleared property whose owners opted to have contractors implement the two erosion control measures. Following the erosion control measures, debris officials and operations staff conducted a walkthrough of each property to ensure that all aspects of the state program were complete.
To date, state contractors have:
- Cleared eligible burned metal, concrete, ash and contaminated soil from 721 properties in Los Angeles County and from 86 properties in Ventura County;
- Installed fiber rolls and applied biodegradable, wood-based mulch and binder to prevent erosion control on 407 of the cleared properties in Los Angeles County and on 39 of the cleared properties in Ventura County;
- Conducted 909 site assessments in Los Angeles County and 111 in Ventura County;
- Completed 907 asbestos surveys in Los Angeles County and 103 in Ventura County; and
- Abated 137 of 140 and 21 of 22 properties in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, respectively, that contained bulk quantities of asbestos containing materials.
Debris removal experts from Los Angeles County Public Works and the Ventura County Environmental Health Division are available at the DROC from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday to meet with property owners who have submitted Right-of-Entry (ROE) permit applications.
Debris officials will notify property owners who have opted in to the state program 24-48 hours prior to the start of debris removal operations on their property. Property owners can meet with crews before work begins.
For more information in Los Angeles County, visit lacounty.gov/LACountyRecovers or call 1-626-979-5370. For more information in Ventura County, visit www.venturacountyrecovers.org or call 1-805-504-7869.
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