As of last night … the Palisades Fire was 99 percent contained. It may be fully out by Friday.

Counselors Onboard Malibu School Buses Thru Fire Zones

Counselors will be riding on the P C H school busses this morning. … the school busses bringing kids through the fire zone on Pacific Coast Highway starting today.

And teachers who live in the West LA area are being invited to save themselves the hours long commute  … and ride the school bus to work. 

Last night … the county sheriff and the Santa Monica-Malibu school district came up with a plan.  

One bus for Webster Elementary School … one bus for Malibu Middle and Malibu High.

The district credits Malibu-Lost Hills Sheriff’s Captain Jennifer Seetoo and Supervisor  Lindsay Horvath for making the bus happen. 

The new bus service from Calabasas will continue.

School superintendent Antonio Shelton says the kids will see a scary scene. 

Burned cars and shells of family homes.

“The social, emotional health of our students is fragile right now,” he wrote.

Each bus will have some adult and pediatric facemasks on hand for those who may need, or parents are welcome to provide for their child in a plastic bag for reuse.

The complete schedule is at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eYC-x6zprxpHS6DHs62Bt9G8qjB4_Wdj/view

Passes Being Issued For Topanga And Malibu Evac Zones At Malibu City Hall

The City of Malibu began handing out fire zone passes yesterday at Malibu City Hall. 

And were are getting more details from people who went through the process. 

First … each pass is a bright green 8 by 11 laminated sheet of paper. 

All applicants must appear in person … no picking up a pass for your husband or wife.

The passes are available for people in the evacuation zones whose houses did not burn down.

Residents outside the City of Malibu … including Topanga … can also pick up their passes at the Malibu City Hall.

LAPD will honor City of Malibu passes at their roadblock, on PCH near Chautauqua.

The passes are good until the roadblocks come down … supposedly.

And as we reported yesterday … there is no through traffic on PCH until further notice.

LA police are quite firm on this.

The sheriff may let people without passes through their checkpoint in eastern Malibu …  in fact … that checkpoint may be removed as soon as today.

But up ahead … LAPD is requiring passes at Coastline eastbound … Chautauqua westbound.

And again … expect one lane of traffic, no passing, utility crews in road, and very slow traffic.  

Do you have a doctor’s appointment in West LA?

Drive around.  101 and 405. 

No through traffic allowed by the LAPD

Ocean Closed, Las Flores To Santa Monica Pier

Toxic crap floating in the ocean … burned wood … carcinogens … floating poison. 

LA County health has closed the beaches from Las Flores State Beach to Santa Monica State Beach.  And avoid the water orders are up from Malibu Lagoon to Santa Monica Pier.

The recent rain has washed fire debris runoff and pollutants in the water and on the sand may contain toxic or carcinogenic chemicals.

Although most areas of Malibu got just a little rain … there was a big downpour Sunday night just on the western side of the fire.

The Malibu Civic Center area actually got more than an inch of rain in just a few minutes … enough to wash gravel into traffic lanes on Pacific Coast Highway. 

Not as much rain fell to the east … in the Malibu fire area.

But nonetheless. … there is an ocean water advisory for Surfrider Beach all the way to Dockweiler State Beach.

Fire debris runoff may contain toxic or carcinogenic chemicals, which can be harmful to health. This includes any runoff that may flow onto or pond on the beach sand. Beach users are advised to stay away from any fire debris on the beach.

EPA Sets Up Debris Collection Yard At Site Of Rosenthal Winery

The US Environmental Protection Agency has begun sending out teams to remove hazardous material from Malibu burned houses.

It appears that the teams will be loading material into sealed barrels and trucks … and taking it to a transfer yard near the eastern end of Malibu.

We cannot get any confirmation … but it appears that the transfer yard may be at the site of the burned-out restaurants at Topanga Beach.

A similar transfer yard has triggered furious reaction from residents near a similar transfer station in the San Gabriel Valley … which was hurriedly built by EPA to handle hazmat from the Eaton Fire.

5 thousand houses in Pacific Palisades and Malibu were destroyed.

An EPA spokeswoman was grilled yesterday at the LA County Board of supervisors.

70891 EPA GRILLED

VOICE 1: “We are moving as fast as possible.

“We have, by order of the White House, within the last 48 hours, to expedite this Phase One process.

VOICE 2: “But that is the new administration?”

VOICE 1: “We are the Environmental Protection Agency.

“The hazardous materials will be stored on an impervious surface. 

“There will be secondary containment and perimeter monitoring to make sure that anything that is brought into the area doesn’t pose a threat to the community.

VOICE 2: “Or to the ground?”

VOICE 1: “Or to the ground.

“We are the stewards of the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, so we take this very seriously.

“We do we do pre- and post-soil sampling to make make sure we leave the area and more pristine condition than when we found it.”

Last night in San Gabriel Valley .. the agency admitted it had failed to let local officials and the public know what thy were doing.

A Duarte city council manager demanded to know why EPA did not consult with local officials … they dodn;’t even tell them what was happening,.

That audio is from KTLA Channel 5. 

In its defense …the agency says they have been responding to hazmat cleanups at big fires since 2015 … and they have never had an issue of exposure to the community or making the land worse. 

EPA needs a place to consolidate the waste for shipment to hazmat disposal areas in California and beyond.

The agency is lining its transfer yards with plastic and is taking extreme measures to prevent air … water or dust from leaving the site.

Mayor Doug Stewart is being accused by a local attack blogger of having made a back door deal with the EPA to put the transfer station at Topanga Beach.

Stewart says he learned of the location after it was already being set up.

At Monday night’s city council meeting … Marianne Riggins cautioned residents  

70888 DEBRIS RIGGINS

“This event?  16 times the size of Lahaina.

“The federal government, the County of Los Angeles, the city of Malibu we can make sure we’re all doing everything we can to make sure it goes as fast as possible.

“But this is unprecedented and size event for our community.

“And there are going to be people who get stood up.

“But once they start with there EPA and then the Phase 2 debris removal, I think this will be going down a lot faster than people expected it to be.”

The fact of the matter is that the local environment needs to be saved immediately.

The waste has to be removed.

There are very few places on the west side of LA county where they necessary work can be performed.

Gov Slaps Coastal A Second Time: Orders Commission Out Of Permit Business In Fire Areas

Governor Gavin Newsom has slapped down the Coastal Commission … for providing “legally erroneous guidance” that threatens to create confusion and delay the rebuilding efforts for wildfire victims in Los Angeles County.

Tech governor has ordered Coastal to back off … as he already ordered … on enforcing the Coastal Act in the fire burnout areas.

Says Newsom: “we will continue to remove barriers and red tape that stand in the way. “We will not let our over-regulation stop us from helping the LA community rebuild and recover.”

Last week . Newsom suspended there Coastal Commission jurisdiction in the fir area.

But then the Commission said that rebuilds in the burn areas are subject to Coastal Act exemption provisions and procedures. 

And yesterday … Newsom reiterated that all permitting requirements under the California Coastal Act are suspended.

Coastal Commission Executive Kate Huckelbridge sounded conciliatory in a statement responding to Newsom’s new order.

Coastal permitting requirements have been suspended for fire-impacted areas in Los Angeles to facilitate rapid recovery.”

That sort has been reported by Politico.

White House Orders Money For Fire Victims Cancelled, Then Reverses Course

Federal money to help fire-scorched Los Angeles rebuild may have just been cut off on orders from the White House. 

The trump administration yesterday ordered a halt to federal funding to states.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said there order was so imprecise and vague that money to help fire-scorched Los Angeles .. and malibu … to rebuild.

Bonta and five other Democratic attorneys general immediately filed suit.

The order was temporarily halted by a federal judge just minutes before it was supposed to take effect.

California US Senator Alex Padillas said “Donald Trump is illegally blocking hundreds of billions of dollars for essential federal programs to support families recovering after catastrophic fires.

Padilla is calling for the Senate to withhold confirmation of Russell Vought, Trump’s pick to run the Office of Management and Budget, until the memo is rescinded.

UPDATE AT 11AM:  The White House has reversed its order, and stood down on tis demand that all federal aid to states be stopped. 

SCE Wants $7 Billion In Rate Hikes To Pay For Its Admitted Negligence in Malibu and Ventura

First … Southern California Edison caused massive fires in Malibu and Ventura.

Then … there state found that the power company caused those fires. 

Edison admitted it was negligent. 

Now … SCE wants to pass on 7 billion dollars in losses to its ratepayers.

Edison is owned by a profit making company … it earned 582 million dollars in profits in the third quarter of last year. 

On Thursday … the investor owned utility is asking the California Public Utilities Commission to raise its rates 2 percent … systemwide … for 30 years.

The company says transferring its damage costs to customers would enable it to “continue doing necessary work to mitigate the effects of climate change.”

The Thomas and Woolsey fires killed five people … and led to the debris flow in Montecito … that killed 23 more.

SCE wants 7 billion to pay for the two fires.

The state has cut a deal for the company to take a 40% haircut on its claimed loss.

The company and its shareholders would take a 1 billion dollar loss. 

One critic tells the LA Times … Edison would recover most of what it paid to victims of the fires “by raising electricity rates on those very victims themselves.”

The Woolsey fire started  in 2018 … on land owned by theBoeing Company near Simi Valley. 

High winds sent it to the beach in one day … raging across almost 97,000 acres.

State investigators determined that a loose guy wire wrapped around a hot cable .. and then contacted an SCE fiber optic line.

The fiber line created a half mile long fire … dripping hot molten metal into a strip of brush that had not been cut as required by state regulations. 

The state also found that Edison lied to investigators … and hid evidence from Woolsey.

The same allegations have been made against Edison for causing the Eaton fire this month. 

Architect With Experience in Woolsey Says Most Pali Fire Foundations And Septic Tanks Are Toast

The owners of beachfront houses that burned in the fire have a problem.

Damaged foundations and septic tanks may have to be rebuilt.

Joseph Lazama is an architect who rebuilt houses after the Woolsey Fire. 

70889 LAZAMA FOUNDATIONS

“So, the foundations out there right now, are surrounded by toxins and debris.

“in my experience with Woolsey, those foundations and the septic systems were damaged, crushed, deemed to be inadequate for the rebuild.

“So I don’t know how to advise my clients on their options.”

The problem .. the city codes to not handle getting permits for a replacement house … on an old foundation … permits which may have to be totally redone.

Another problem … designing a replacement house with a floor that is 8 feet higher than the old house … to meet federal flood insurance requirements.

Joseph Lazama notes that the city will let him resdeign a house that is 10 percent bigger than the old house. 

How do you do that when the floor has to be higher???

70890 LAZAMA BOX

“I’m a lot of those homes are configured to be lower on the beachfront right now and FEMA and the finish floor elevation requirements and bump up 5 , 7 feet. 

“I’m not sure but I just feels like that requirement. 

“I’m trying to fit 100 and 110% of what was lost into a 80% box and I don’t know I would like to request clarification on how that 10% will be measured or even that 100% rebuild will be measured.”

City staff say there will have to be a zoning text amendment… To clear these issues up.

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Joe Edmiston is getting ready to give up some of his land. 

In a report yesterday … the embattled director of the Mountains Resource Conservation Agency says he is getting ready for the state legislature to transfer land from his agency to… to California Stater Parks. 

That’s the way it was intended 40 years ago .. when the MRCA was created.

It was supposed to be a land acquisition agency … able to move quickly to buy land and transfer it to State Parks. 

State Parks has been chronically underfunded … and has not acquired any land from MRCA.

MRCA has grown and grown … assembling a fire department and police force of questionable value .. according to Malibu officials. 

Edmiston has come under heavy fire … with a line of old adversaries in Malibu unloading on the MRCA for failing to close its gates to public entry before fires broke out. 

In his written statement … Edmiston calls the looming legislation on this “complicated.” 

Says he: “However, it is clear that the SMMC is one of the affected agencies, as well as California Department of Parks & Recreation.

“We will be exploring with all relevant parties new legislation regarding the transfer of jurisdiction over any property acquired with state funds to California State Parks.

“Presumably this legislation would not relieve any agency of existing public access responsibilities, nor would it abrogate contractual obligations. 

“The advantages of this approach are opening up state Legislative appropriations for management of the heavily used parklands in Malibu and elsewhere.

“This bill should also address uniform fire management standards throughout the state that should be applicable to every jurisdiction. The cost implications are not known at this time.

Federal Agents Arresting People In Oxnard

Federal immigration officers are making sweeps just west of Malibu … in Oxnard.

The city’s police department says Immigrations And Customs Enforcement agents have called 911 to let local police know that armed federal agents are conducting arrests.

In one case … ICE agents reportedly surrounded a man’s truck and taunted him.

An attorney from the Immigrant Legal Defense Center says he intervened over the phone.

The nonprofit posted an alert to its social media accounts Tuesday afternoon … indicating that ICE agents were seen in fields near Oxnard High School around noon. 

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