The EPA, state, and local government is preparing for a big cleanup of hazardous household material left after the fires. The cleanup won’t start until Sept. 28 because a lot of staging must happen first.
“(USEPA) will be bringing in lots of containers, lots of different equipment, even ATV’s because some of the properties are very hard to get to,” explained Marilyn Underwood, director for Environmental Health Santa Cruz County.
The agencies will be providing an interactive map online to show people if their homes have been cleaned.
Phase one will take six to eight weeks to complete. Once it’s finished, it will be the responsibility of the homeowner to move on to phase two.
“We will have an arrangement with the state, we hope, to have them come in and take out the ash, the foundation and soil below it,” explained Underwood. “If (homeowners) choose a private contractor, they’re obviously paying for it themselves. And if they choose the state, the state would cover it. They do ask that if someone has an insurance policy that covers debris removal, there would be an obligation to tell the county that and we would seek out those funds.”
All these materials will be taken to a landfill made specifically for hazardous waste. Once the process is complete, people can start to think about beginning the rebuilding process.
For more information, you can visit the Santa Cruz County Environmental Health website.
