SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — Officials at the Debris Removal Operations Center (DROC) in Calabasas announced today that they have submitted the last final inspection report of the 826 properties in Los Angeles County whose owners opted into the state’s Consolidated Debris Removal Program following last November’s Woolsey Fire.
Last week, state debris officials submitted final inspection reports to officials in Los Angeles County for 24 of the final 25 properties in Los Angeles County affected by the Woolsey Fire awaiting reports.
Debris officials also submitted the final six of 94 inspection reports to officials in Ventura County for participating properties affected by the Woolsey Fire.
In late May, debris officials submitted final inspection reports to Ventura County officials for the last of the six participating properties in the county affected by the Hill Fire.
Submission of the final inspection reports clears the way for owners of the properties in Los Angeles and Ventura counties to begin reconstruction.
Under the state’s Consolidated Debris Removal Program, administered by CalRecycle and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, participating owners incurred no direct costs.
During the state’s debris removal operation, contractors conducted site assessments, asbestos surveys and abatements as required for every site. Crews also removed burnt metal, concrete, ash contaminated soil and other debris from each participating property.
After crews removed debris from a property, the surveying contractor returned to each site to collect soil samples for testing and analysis at state certified laboratories.
Once the state certified laboratories verified that the samples taken from each property met state environmental health and safety criteria, contractors installed fiber rolls and applied a virgin-based, biodegradable mulch to those properties whose owners chose to have contractors implement the two types of erosion control measures.
After crews completed implementation of the erosion control measures, state officials and staff conducted a walkthrough of each property to ensure all of the requirements of the state program were completed to the state’s high standard.
Crews removed 422,229.39 tons of debris during the project. In Los Angeles County, they cleared more than 372,056.09 tons of debris, all related to the Woolsey Fire. In Ventura County, they cleared more than 50,173.30 tons of debris, including 698.33 tons generated by the Hill Fire.
In addition, they:
- Conducted 918 site assessments in Los Angeles County and 113 in Ventura County;
- Completed 916 asbestos surveys in Los Angeles County and 106 in Ventura County;
- Abated all 147 properties in Los Angeles County and all 22 properties in Ventura County that contained bulk quantities of asbestos containing materials; and
- Installed fiber rolls and applied a virgin-based biodegradable mulch and binder to prevent erosion control on 768 of the cleared properties in Los Angeles County and on 93 of the cleared properties in Ventura County;
With the submission of the final inspection reports for all 926 participating properties, debris removal officials will close the DROC, located at 26610 Agoura Road in Calabasas, at 5 p.m. on July 31.
Beginning August 1, Los Angeles County representatives will be available to assist property owners by phone through the Woolsey Fire Hotline, 1-800-979-5370, and in person at the LA County Calabasas One-Stop Center, Mondays through Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., located at 26605 Agoura Road, Suite 100, Calabasas.
LA County property owners can obtain or more information by visitinglacounty.gov/LACountyRecovers . Ventura County property owners can obtain assistance by visiting www.venturacountyrecovers.org or calling 1-805-504-7869.