The Calabasas city council is asking for a court order to prevent Malibu fire debris from being taken to the Los Angeles County regional dump … in Calabasas.

The council is seeing strong political winds … residents from Calabasas and Agoura Hills vehemently opposed to the use of the county’s only westside dump for the Tonis off fire damage that need to be carted off … before ash blows away our ashes into the Santa Monica Bay.

By midmorning yesterday… dozens of Calabasas residents had blockaded the entrance to the LA county landfill next to the 101 freeway at Lost Hills Road. And they successfully turned around trucks with fire debris from Malibu and Pacific Palisades.

The Calabasas dump has been operated as a general purpose landfill for more than 50 years … long before there was a Calabasas or Agoura Hills grown up around it.

It is the only general purpose disposal site in western LA county.

Dallas Laurence is a school board member from Agoura Hills. 

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“We had parents … members from the community …  to show up today really push back against one of the most incomprehensible, illogical decision I’ve ever seen from government.

“And that is to allow hundreds of thousands of tons of likely toxic and hazardous materials into a residential landfill. 

“We have schools in the immediate vicinity. We have a park 100 yards from this entrance that our kids play in every day. 

So this makes no sense … so we are pushing back. 

“We closed this landfill today. 

“We will be here tomorrow, we will be here Wednesday to send a clear message to our county leaders, that this makes no sense.

“So let’s send these materials to landfills that are zoned for hazardous materials, not a residential landfill.”

The Calabasas dump is licensed to receive fire debris … and has linings to prevent toxic runoff.  It is the only such landfill within 50 miles of Malibu. 

And there was no opposition from Calabasas or Agoura Hills when fire debris was dumped there 5 years ago … after Calabasas and Agoura Hills burned in the Woolsey Fire.

But parent Michelle Gellar is furious that the Malibu fire debris is heading towards Calabasas.

She went before the Calabasas city council last night. 

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“Calabasas is one of the only landfills in California that is near a residential area. Near residential area with parks, a parked at my child my five-year-old with one kidney, plays at, plays every Friday with his school!”

When Calabasas and Agoura Hills burned in the Woolsey Fire … debris from 6 thousand houses was buried in the lined and sealed Calabasas landfill without resident opposition. 

That does little to comfort the activists over the hill … 

At the last Calabasas city council meeting … council member Alicia Weinstraub confronted the Army Corps of Engineers colonel in charge of the project.

Could Col. Brian Sawser guarantee – 100 percent – that no hazmat would be in the Malibu fire debris?? 

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“Can you be can you be 100% certain that no waste that is hazardous will end up in the landfill? 

COL. SAWSER: “Ma’am, I’m, I don;’t think, I, I.

“I taught probability and statistics at West Point so I am going o be hard[pressed to be 100% sure of anything. 

“So, I’m not trying to equivocate but no, I will not offer you 100%. All this ash and material that is hazardous right now is in an uncontrolled environment.

“And as it rains right now, all that the brief flow is absolutely heading into yourwatershed and heading to your ocean. 

“I’m not a scientist, but that is a point without contention. 

“But we are trying to do is get that under a controlled status and in a controlled disposal as soon as possible.

“So that is the dynamic, and I think that is there the trade off behind the rush: to get it out of uncontrolled environment and into a controlled environment as soon as possible.”

Col. Brian Sawser from the Army Corps Of Engineers 

So … Calabasas has gone to court to keep hazardous material flowing in to the ocean in Malibu … instead of being contained in a landfill. 

Calabasas city officials oppose and changes in the dump’s hours.  And they have posted signs at the dump entrance saying that all debris must have a certificate stating that it is free of hazardous material.

And now comes news that the next-closest dump in LA County is also the target of protests.

That would be the Sunshine Canyon landfill …. At the north end of the San Fernando Calley.

Sunshine Canyon has long been a source of frustration for its neighbors … because it has a terrible record and it does pollute the nearby neighborhood… As opposed to lost hills… Which has a clean record

More than 100 people yesterday voiced fierce opposition over its role in wildfire debris disposal.

They don’t want fire debris from Pacific Palisades or Malibu dumped in Sylmar.

Caltrans Says Heavy Truck Operations Means PCH Must Be Closed, But No Caltrans Trucks Seen

Caltrans officials say Pacific Coast Highway needs to be kept closed to general traffic for the indefinite future… due to the large number of trucks on the highway.

Only one problem. There were no trucks on the highway yesterday. 

None.  

KBUU reporters have press passes … and they drove down PCH yesterday morning … and up PCH yesterday afternoon.

We did not see one Caltrans vehicle on PCH.

Not one Caltrans pickup truck.

Not one Caltrans front end loader. 

No contractor dump trucks.

We saw one front end loader … digging a trench on the side of the road near Big Rock.

It was on the shoulder … and it was not a state vehicle. 

In fact … the road looks exactly the same as it did after the rains stopped last week.

A lot of mud drying on the side of the road … drying out so that Caltrnas can load it in trucks when it doesn’t weight so much.

The last heavy Caltrans work on the highway was nine days ago … Sunday … February 9th. 

That is when the last metal plate was installed to replace burned wooden timbers on retaining walls near Porto Marina and the Getty Villa Museum.

We’ve been in touch with Caltrans officials .. almost every day … since the fire. 

Yesterday … we asked what work was being done … yesterday.

Caltrans was not able to get us an answer … it was after all … a holiday.

We have repeatedly asked … since the fire … what is the permanent damage to Highway 1?  

We can see structural damage to vertical walls above the highway … broken concrete … bent steel … and vaporized wooden beams. 

But we still have not heard from Caltrans … what are their plans for permanent repairs to PCH?  

But there are to other agencies with temporary traffic authority on PCH.

That would be the Army Corps of Engineers …doing fire debris removal … and LA County … removing truckloads of debris from drainage channels and basins,

The Army has already told us … they can work around traffic on PCH.

Col. Brian Dawson of the Army Corps Of Engineers is in charge.

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“It will be critical for us to have access to that critical road in order to rapidly and safely execute private property debris removal in the Malibu and Pacific communities. 

“As I said, we are in contact with those who control that road, that being Caltrans and coordination with LA city and the county, and to answer your question, we will need access to that so we can safely execute our mission. 

“But the decisions on whether it should be restricted is not something that we make unilaterally, it is something that we work with Caltrans and the other agencies to make that decision. 

REPORTER:  “The question would be, colonel, do you need exclusive access? Do you need to close the road to get your job done?”

COL. SWENSON:  “It’s not my decision whether I have exclusive access or not. 

“If I look at other impacted areas from this community, survivors have returned home to homes that have not been impacted have been reoccupied. We work around the … that we have.”

The Army says it can work around civilian traffic on PCH.
KBUU News has asked county public works officials … do THEY need the PCH closed so their big trucks can operate.

Their answer … it is a joint decision … but no.

We asked Bob Fenton from FEMA… 

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“I think it’s really a decision for Caltrans, the county or the city to make that decision. 

“Obviously, along PCH, we will have to have access along there to remove the debris from those homes. 

“But that’s ultimately a decision for the Caltrans, county and city.”

So what does the state say?  

Eric Fuctow from the Calif Department of Emergency Services answered that direct question from KBUU last week.

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“It’s a joint decision and much of it is influenced by safety concerns not only for the debris removal, but as we go along, with threats from rain, erosion, debris, mudflows. 

“So there isn’t one particular one time factor that causes that, it maybe a series of things that we can reduce the risk by reducing traffic to the lowest possible traffic at one time.”

It’s a joint decision … a joint decision… a joint decision. 

But no agency will make the first decision … to say they are OK to reopening the road. 

So … back to Caltrans.

If the state agency needs PCH closed to allow for big equipment to move without squashing little cars … where is the big equipment?

What are the projects that need to be done?
There is still enormous piles of mud and dirt on the side of the road .. drying the sun so it can be made light enough to load into trucks.

But then what?  Enormous slabs of concrete retaining walls look like they need removal and replacement. 

We still cannot get an answer from Caltrans …. What are the projects that it needs to do?

The last word … from Caltrans this morning… “due to the continuing cleanup & heavy equipment in lanes, there is no estimated date for reopening all lanes on PCH in Malibu and Pacific Palisades. “

Schools Back In Session, Buses Get Pass Thru Barricade

Malibu school children may be able to turn the corner today … and begin the full-time job of learning.

That’s the hope of Santa Monica Malibu school superintendent Antonio Sheldon … as school resumes today … and no storms on the horiuzon.

Webster Elementary, Malibu Elementary, Malibu Middle and Malibu High schools will be back in session …

Yesterday afternoon, the district was informed that its daily school buses from Santa Monica have been given special permission to drive on Pacific Coast Highway.

Vanpools for teachers and other employees have also been given special permission to drive on the state highway.

Planning Commission To Consider Fair Fairness In City Permits 

It’s not fair … say victims of the Franklin Fire in Malibu Canyon last December. 

The governor’s special orders for fire relief for the Palisades Fore does not cover the Franklin Fife … one month earlier. 

And the city of Malibu has some planning rules that favored Wooplsey Fire victims … from six years ago.

But not the two recent wildfires. 

So the city council has asked its staff to level the plying field … as much as possible.

And the city planning department is proposing new rules for fire rebuilds …l to be more equitable.

Its called a ZTA … a zoning text amendment that goes before the Malibu planning commission Thursday.
One of the goals of the proposed change is to extend the same type of relief … provided by the governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive Orders for those impacted by the Palisades Fire to thoseaffected by the Franklin and Broad Fires,

Plus … the governor’s executive odder differs from the current Coastal Commission  regulations.

For example … residents are allowed to rebuild their existing structure plus 10 percent. Right now … that 10 percent is counted by measuring the old building’s floor area, height, or bulk.

The governor is ordering that the 10 percent increase be counted by measuring footprint and height. 

The governor language may allow larger houses to squeak through … than did the current city zoning language. 

Still … the proposed changes do not allow replacement structures to encroach on a public access easement or public access deed restriction.

That apparently means there days of structures encroaching onto PCHJ right of way may be over.  One city planning commissioner last year estimated that 75 percent of the houses on PCH in eastern Malibu had structures encroaching on the highway property. 

The proposed city zoning codes also holds that rebuilt structures may not expand farther seaward on the beach than the original structure. 

And the replacement structures may not encroach onto a previously-approved public view corridor.

The planning commission takes all this up at 6:30 Thursday night at city hall and on the Zoom software.

KBUU To Get City Honor On Its 10th Anniversary

Malibu’s city council will honor KBUU radio this Monday at 5:30 at the start of the city council meeting. 

It was 10 years ago on Feb. 26 that KBUU went onto the air. 

Station founders Diane Laetz and Hans Laetz will be honored with a ceremonial scroll.