Altadena, California — Armed with a spoon and sandwich bags, Gilien Silsby, a lifelong resident of Altadena, California, a Los Angeles suburb, digs up some of the land she’s called home for decades to be tested for toxins.
Three generations of her family lost homes in January to the devastating Eaton Fire in Altadena, which, along with the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, claimed more than 30 lives and destroyed more than 16,000 homes in the L.A. area.
Silsby and her parents all plan to rebuild in Altadena, but before they break ground, they have to be sure their land is safe.
The federal government banned lead-based paint for residential use in 1978, but according to numbers from Caltech, more than 90% of the homes in Altadena were built before 1975.
“Their home was built in 1925,” Silsby said of her parents. “I’m concerned because they are older, and I want to make sure that they aren’t exposed to anything that could be unhealthy.”
In its final soil testing report released last month in the wake of the Eaton Fire, the L.A. County Department of Public Health found a sizeable number of Altadena properties had significantly higher levels of lead than what the state deemed safe. The county also found that lead concentration levels were “generally higher” in samples from the Eaton Fire area compared to the Palisades Fire area.
Lead concentration levels in soil of 80 milligrams per kilogram or less are considered safe, even for the most at-risk people, according to county health officials.
The University of Southern California is conducting its own testing project for concerned families.
“We know that lead is a dangerous contaminant that can be in places in or near fires,” said Sujeet Rao, director of the USC Dornsife Public Exchange, a public health initiative at the school that is leading the testing effort through its Contaminant Level Evaluation and Analysis for Neighborhoods program, or CLEAN. “And that’s true whether your home burned down, or was partially damaged, or only had smoke damage, or even if you were down wind, and just sort of had a lot of smoke and ash fall in your yard.”
Exposure to lead can cause brain and kidney damage and developmental delays.
“The risk is that young children, or people who are pregnant, come in contact with soils that have really elevated levels of lead,” Rao said. “…Over time, that lead can accumulate in the body.”
Rao says USC’s findings were consistent with the county’s report, which found that lead contamination was present even after the Army Corps of Engineers scraped six inches of soil from damaged properties.
“Why can’t you take another six inches?” Silsby asked. “I am glad that we can do your own soil testing now, just to make sure it’s safe to build.”
More than one in three Altadena homeowners say they have not gotten the soil testing they want, according to the Department of Angels, a local advocacy group. In extreme cases, homeowners will have to remove the hazardous soil.
“I love it when I hear people are rebuilding,” Silsby said. “I even love it when I hear that people’s homes have survived, because that’s kind of the scaffolding that’s keeping us all up.”
U.S. government takes stake in lithium mining company in Nevada
Arrested former Des Moines superintendent’s resume appears to have been greatly exaggerated
Reporter’s Notebook: Jane Goodall’s legacy
