Source: https://dnyuz.com/, May 9, 2025

New soil testing by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has found high levels of lead and other toxic metals at homes destroyed by January’s catastrophic wildfires and cleared by federal cleanup crews.

The county health department hired Roux Associates Inc. to conduct soil sampling at 30 homesites that had been cleaned up by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — the federal agency leading debris-removal operations for the Eaton and Palisades wildfires. The Army Corps and Federal Emergency Management Agency have said crews would clear wildfire debris and up to 6 inches of topsoil in ash-covered portions of the property. Read more.