Elected officials in California are urging the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Newsom administration to fund soil testing for properties impacted by the Eaton and Palisades wildfires, citing significant public health risks and financial burdens that survivors may face when attempting to rebuild in Altadena and Pacific Palisades.
FEMA, which is currently leading the wildfire recovery efforts, has faced harsh criticism for its choice not to conduct soil contamination testing after removing wreckage and up to 6 inches of topsoil from affected properties. This policy stands in stark contrast to California’s approach to nearly all wildfire recovery efforts in recent years.
Since 2007, federal and state disaster agencies have routinely performed soil sampling following major wildfires to ensure that properties cleared of debris do not contain hazardous levels of lead and other toxic substances. These recovery efforts typically involved detecting high contaminants and deploying cleanup crews to remove additional layers of soil, followed by further testing to ensure compliance with state standards.
However, after the 2025 L.A. wildfires, FEMA has persistently refused to allocate funds for soil testing, claiming that the removal of wildfire debris and topsoil is adequate to eliminate any immediate health risks.
On June 3, U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (D-Pasadena), along with 28 other federal legislators, sent a letter to FEMA demanding a reassessment of this decision. The lawmakers called for federal funding for soil testing and additional remediation for properties where soil contamination exceeds California’s safety standards.
In a separate letter sent to California environmental regulators, state Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Barbara) and three other legislators urged intervention if FEMA continues to shun soil testing protocols. Allen suggested that state officials utilize a $2.5-billion emergency relief package signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in January, which encompasses funding for debris cleanup and post-fire assessments.
Allen’s letter cautioned that allowing untested burned properties to remain could reverse established precedents and lower standards for future disaster recovery. They argued that without comprehensive government-led soil testing, homeowners would either have to bear the costs of soil sampling themselves or risk returning to homes with dangerous levels of contamination.
“It is deeply unjust that this responsibility has fallen to fire survivors — already burdened by the challenges of total loss recovery — simply because federal partners like FEMA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have failed to lead,” Allen and his co-signers remarked in their letter.
“The State of California now has the opportunity to fill that gap with leadership that centers science, transparency, and community needs.”
Earlier in February, the Newsom administration reached out to FEMA, urging reconsideration of the non-testing policy, highlighting the danger posed by unnoticed fire-related contaminants post-cleanup. However, federal officials promptly rejected this request, instead directing state and local authorities to manage the effort.
As the demand for California officials to take action has intensified, a coalition of environmental researchers wrote a letter last month urging the state to fund soil testing.
The Newsom administration seems to be retracing its concerns regarding persistent contamination risks from the Eaton and Palisades wildfires. In a letter dated June 6, CalEPA Secretary Yana Garcia downplayed the lingering contamination risks, noting that some contamination could stem from historical pollution related to leaded gasoline and heavy industry rather than solely from recent wildfires.
“This is the environment, not a clean slate, in which the Palisades and Eaton Fires occurred,” she noted in her correspondence.
Soil testing conducted by Los Angeles Times journalists in March highlighted that homes cleared by federal cleanup crews might still harbor elevated levels of lead and arsenic. Similarly, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s preliminary findings indicated that 27% of soil samples taken from properties already deemed cleaned contained lead levels exceeding state standards for residential sites.
Despite the alarming findings, Garcia expressed satisfaction with the existing federal cleanup procedures.
“Sampling results so far are demonstrating the effectiveness of the existing clean-up approach,” Garcia stated in her letter.
The health department declined an L.A. Times public records request for the raw data related to soil contamination, citing the need for finalization. Additionally, it also rebuffed requests for the contract detailing the extent of payments made to consult with Roux Associates on soil sampling efforts.
Garcia maintained that blood testing in wildfire-affected communities showed overall low exposure levels. However, she did not directly respond to appeals for state-funded soil testing for the L.A. wildfires.
Sen. Allen and the co-signing legislators continue to seek clarity from state environmental agencies through their letters. The letter calls for state environmental agencies to hold a public meeting by the end of June to discuss post-wildfire soil testing plans and protocols related to the L.A. wildfires.
As of now, CalEPA officials have not yet provided comments on this pressing issue.
image source from：https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-06-12/elected-officials-call-for-soil-testing-after-la-wildfires
