State officials at the Debris Removal Operations Center (DROC) in Calabasas have submitted final inspection reports to local officials in Los Angeles and Ventura counties for 215 properties affected by the Woolsey and Hill fires that have completed the state’s Consolidated Debris Removal Program.
Submission of the reports to Los Angeles County Public Works and Ventura County Environmental Health Division, respectively, clears the way for rebuilding to begin for 187 property owners in Los Angeles County and 28 in Ventura County.
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.
Under the state program, administered by CalRecycle and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), property owners who opt in incur no direct costs for the removal of eligible debris.
To date, contractors have removed debris from 656 properties – 592 in Los Angeles County and 64 in Ventura County. The 656 cleared properties include the 215 sites for which final inspection reports have been submitted.
The 656 cleared sites in both counties represent approximately 71.3 percent of the properties currently eligible for the state program. The 592 cleared properties in Los Angeles and the 64 cleared properties in Ventura County represent approximately 71.6 percent and 68.8 percent of the eligible properties in those counties, respectively.
Property owners who have submitted ROEs can meet one-on-one with debris removal experts from their respective counties to discuss the status of their ROEs and issues related to their property at the Debris Removal Operations Center (DROC) located at 26610 Agoura Road in Calabasas. The DROC is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturdays.
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 may 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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