FEMA has reversed course on its policy of testing for lead after the deadly Palisades and Eaton Fires. After a year, initially ending the testing of lead and 17 other toxic chemicals, practices the federal agency had conducted after previous fire disasters, including in Lahaina as late as 2023, FEMA is announcing it will pay for soil testing, however, only at 100 homes in Altadena, and with a methodology that does not align with some environmentalists.
The FEMA plan was only announced after reports that US Army Corps of Engineers contractors did a sloppy job of removing toxic debris from hundreds of homes in the burn scar areas, and public pressure to conduct a thorough cleanup.
Some environmentalists are questioning the efficacy and value of the announced testing methods. FEMA says it will randomly select 100 sites out of 5,600 that burned in Altadena and that were cleared by the USACE. Soil samples will be analyzed from 30 different locations at each chosen property, but will only be tested for lead and not other toxins that have reportedly remained at some privately analyzed sites. Another controversial testing method by the EPA is being questioned as the agency will be combining the 30 samples at each site into one result that critics say could water down the end analysis on each property.
Results from the new testing are expected to be revealed in April. Officials have not said if they plan on expanding the testing program to the Palisades burn scar areas.
