Outrage is growing from some – but not all – people in Malibu, over a federal government hazmat waste transfer station temporarily set up at the eastern gateway to Malibu.

The U-S E-P-A is using the old Topanga Ranch Motel site … at the eastern end of Malibu … to transfer and consolidate loads of hazardous household waste that it collects.

The idea is to collect toxic debris and get it into sealed trucks as fast as possible, as winter rain means there is no time to consolidate the loads anywhere distant from Malibu or the Pacific Palisades.

At 5 thousand burned out homes in Malibu and Pacific Palisades … people in moon suits are collecting household hazardous waste … and putting it in sealed containers. 

Things like paint … pesticide … small items that are placed in sealed blue barrels at the recovery site … 

These containers are then taken to the transfer station … where they are sorted … and put on trucks  for shipping to hazmat waste dumps in the desert.

Malibu Mayor Doug Stewart says they are not a threat.

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“No, not at all. 

“This is a transfer station for household items. 

“Things like paint or pesticides that they find out at the burn sites. 

“They just need to clean these out before they do the debris removal. 

“It’s not supposed to be for the debris removal. 

“It’s just for the hazardous items that starts the first phase of the debris cleanup.”

Some Malibu and Topanga Canyon area residents are having none of that.  They say that it is dangerous to transfer the waste next to the Topanga Lagoon … which feeds into the ocean. 

Years of government distrust … and fear of a possible lingering contamination … are rampant.   The explanation that this not where heavy equipment, debris removal, or structural scrapping does not make an impact on traumatized people.

The city says EPA follows strict containment protocols—items are isolated, triple-wrapped, and securely placed in sealed drums before ever leaving the burned home … and arriving at the transfer station.

The plastic linings under the transfer area … the protective steps .. the testing of the air for leaks … they don’t buy that. 

County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath has endorsed the transfer station … which is actually not in Malibu but in unincorporated Los Angeles County. 

Is there a potential threat to Topanga Lagoon or the beach ???  Again … Malibu Mayor Doug Stewart:

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“Not at all.

“They are going go to great lengths to make sure that this is protected. 

“First off, everything is sealed.

“If it’s damaged before it even gets there,  they are going to seal it at the burn site.

“And if it’s not damaged, when they bring it to the site for the transfer station it will be in a sealed truck. 

“And I believe every night they are going to take everything away so there’s nothing stored there overnight. 

“And the area will have pads and dams to make sure if there is any leakage, it never gets into the lagoon.”

There is an increasing chance of rain next Tuesday and especially Wednesday.

How much rain next week?

The best guess of rainfall amounts … maybe 3/4 to 1 inch. But it’s too early to make a reliable forecast. 

The rain will fall on a Malibu and Palisades coastline that it is loaded with toxic fire ash.

The charred and toxic remnants of thousands of destroyed homes, businesses, cars and electronics is already washing or blowing into the ocean.

Ash from the fires has been detected 100 miles offshore.

Beaches have already been closed from Las Flores Canyon … past Topanga Beach … down to the Santa Monica Pier. 

That proven threat … frankly … is much larger than the possible threat poised by the sealed hazmat transfer station. 

And it makes the task of getting the hazmat collected a major priority … a race against time. 

It is a race against time to get the hazmat collected …. heavy metals, man made chemicals, Particularly Hazardous Substances, carcinogens and dioxin.

Moving the hazmat site further away will delay the collection process .. spreading poisons much more widely than the zero impact collection yard at Topanga Ranch Motel.

Repeat: LAPD Is Banning Malibu Residents From PCH Unless They Are Visiting Their Burned Houses

Reports of confusion down at the line to get a roadblock pass at Malibu. 

Sheriff’s deputies repeat that the passes are available only for landowners trying to get in to their properties. 

No passes are being handed out for Malibu residents trying to drive back and forth from Malibu to Santa Monica.

Los Angeles Police have shown no sign of ending their ban on through traffic on the two miles of PCH through the Pacific Palisades.

And they show no signs of understanding that PCH is a state highway, critical for commerce and necessity of travel by people outside of Los Angeles.

There is no indication when PCH will reopen to general traffic.

County Fire Chief Pushes ‘Zone Zero’ Ban On Unsafe Landscaping And Building

The fire department calls it Zone Zero … a proposed change to the fire codes that would requires houses to be built to withstand fires without the presence of a fire truck.

County fire chief Anthony Marrone says … Zone Zero will soon be brought to the County Board of Supervisors as a proposed change to the local fire codes. 

70896 ZONE ZERO 

“I think it’s time for the county to implement some type of zone zero requirements to make sure that homes can withstand a wildfire without a fire engine or fire personnel being at their home at the time.

“It’s incredibly painful to listen to peoples’ first hand accounts of no firefighters on their street while they’re home burned down and all they had were the clothes on their back. 

“We must take a bold step to implement portions of zone zero even though the state of California has not finalized it and implemented it.”

Zone Zero includes a ban on flammable landscaping … or fences … within 5 feet of a structure. 

It’s already a municipal ordinance inMalibu.

Making it part of the county fire code would extend it to the surrounding area. 

County Official Blames Malibu For Lack Of Progress Rebuilding Deficient Water Main, Malibu Official Disagrees

There is a small squabble between LA County’s water agency and Malibu … over why Malibu’s water system has numerous repairs and improvements that have not been constructed. 

The director of the county’s Public Works Director … Mark Pestrella … said in an LA Times interview that Malibu has resisted fixing the water system because it is using lack of water supply to limit growth. 

Former Malibu Mayor Jeff Jennings says that is not true … that Malibu has never rejected a water improvement as a means to limit development. 

The Malibu Planning Commission has a mixed record on water projects … 

For example … it delayed replacing a water tank on Busch Drive for two years due to concerns about landscaping … the tank placement on the lot … and a proposed employees bathroom that was in an early version of that plan.  

County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath is asking for answers. 

She wants a report on any performance issues that may have  affected Waterworks District 29 operations during the Palisades Fire.

She wants a report to identify how the Malibu water system planned projects … identified in years past … are progressing. 

She wants a report on how these proposed projects are being funded. 

And she wants a report .. within 90 days … on how to get these critical projects funded and built quickly.

Malibu’s Community Fire Brigades Get Honored By The Board of Supervisors

Malibu’s community fire brigade was honored by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday. 

Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said the volunteers … under the direction of the county fire department … have become a national example. 

70897 HORVATH BRIGADES 

“The community brigade began as a grassroots effort to prepare and empower our residents, to protect their neighborhoods in the face of wildfires.

“What started as a vision to bridge gaps in emergency response has grown into an essential force for keeping our community safe. “

There about 24 men and women from Malibu are trained by the professional firefighters at LA County. 

Their role is to follow the big fire trucks in … after a fire sweeps through an area … and let the profession firefighters move on to their next assignment … while protecting homes from igniting from leftover sparks.

The concept originally was fought by the LA County Fore DEPARTMENT  … where some of the leadership and crews did not like the idea of volunteer firefighters in fire zones.

The current Fire Chief … Anthony Marrone … is a big believer in the brigades. 

BRIG MARRONE 

“It goes without saying that the women in the men standing behind me at the community brigade, represent the best of LA County coming together in times of need to protect other residents and the communities that they live in.”

Supervisor Lindsey Horvath singled out two Malibu area residents … Brent Woodruff and Keegan Gibbs … at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors  meeting. 

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“Brent’s leadership at the LA Emergency Preparedness Foundation has been the backbone of the brigade.

“And Keegan, your commitment since the Woolsey fire to mobilizing and inspiring neighbors has made these efforts possible.”

Brent Woodruff:

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“What’s your saying here is something that’s not anywhere else in the country. 

“It’s a collaborative partnership between dedicated community members. 

“The background of these individuals?  We have somebody who competes in the world’s strongest man competition. We have someone who is a wildlands helicopter firefighter and we have a superior court judge and everything in between that’s part of this group. 

“It’s rather amazing.” 

Keegan Gibbs:

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“This last couple couple weeks has been really tough to work so hard for six years, hoping to not have a result like this, but knowing it’s inevitable to happen to our community to several of our brigade members, it’s been something that is only more fuel for our motivation.”

Brent Woodruff … then Keegan Gibbs … accepting a scroll from the county Board of Supervisors Tuesday. 

Wave Of LAUSD Students Enrolling In SMMUSD

The local school district has a tidal wave of new students enrolling … students who were displaced form LA Unified school campuses in Pacific Palisades.

It’s not clear how many of those students are enrolling in the schools on Malibu’s side of the district.

Officials say 145 requests for enrollment have come in thus far from students displaced by wildfires. 

Of those 145 requests, 77 had been approved for enrollment, and 46 of those have been enrolled .. somewhere in the district’s 15 schools.

No new tax money will be coming with the newly enrolled kids … however.

Under the state’s complicated property tax rules … the Santa Monica-Malibu District gets local property tax money back from Sacramento … 

The money returned to the local area is based on a flat percentage of how much property tax revenue is collected in Malibu and Santa Monica.

The school board decided to become a so-called basic aid district because it gets more money that way… as opposed to being funded on an average student attendance basis.

But that was a calculated risk… because it means the district will not get any more local tax money returned from Sacramento … if there is a sudden surge in enrollment.

District officials say they are talking with local state, senators and representatives… To try to get an additional source of funding for the flood of new students new students.

Fewds Promise Initial Report On Cause Of Palisades Fire Within 60 Days

So .. what started the Palisades Fire??  We’ll know in 60 days.

The Los Angeles Times takes a deep dive in a front page article this morning. 

No official word from the federal investigators … who are doing a comoprehensicve investigation. 

Sources with knowledge of the inquiry the the LA Times there are two leading theories: 

An 8-acre blaze that fire officials thought they had put out on Jan. 1 in the same area reignited and spread because of intense winds.

Or … a  new fire was somehow sparked nearby that morning. Sources have told The Times the blaze appears to have human origins.

One resident told the LA Times he was hiking in the area of the New years Eve fire … the morning that the palisades Fire broke out.
And he smelled smoke. 

That may mean a re-ignition of the New Years Eve Fire … or it may not.

The federal ATF is seeking to issue a report on the cause of the fire in about 60 days. 

That would be considerably faster than for the deadly August 2023 fire on the Hawaiian island of Maui, which took a year. 

But that may depend on whether more sophisticated tests are needed back at the bureau’s Maryland fire lab.

This story is based on reporting in the Los Angeles Times.