Media contact:
Rick Bandelin, Hazardous Materials Manager, (805) 654-2815
Imosemen Omiunu, Public Information Officer, (805) 654-3576
VENTURA, California – As the Mountain Fire nears 100% containment, the County of Ventura continues to work with the City of Camarillo and multiple agencies to expedite recovery activities and ensure safe hazardous waste and fire debris removal and disposal from structures and properties damaged by the fire through a consolidated debris removal program. The Debris Removal Program takes place in two phases with Phase 1: Household hazardous waste (HHW) removal scheduled to begin this week.
During Phase 1, teams from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) and the County’s Environmental Health Division will begin inspecting properties fully or partially destroyed by the fire. Teams will remove any accessible and visible household hazardous waste that may pose a threat to human health and the environment such as batteries, identifiable asbestos, pesticides, cleaning products, and paints. There is no cost to affected residents for this service provided in Phase 1 and residents do not need to file a request to participate.
DTSC estimates that the majority of this phase will take approximately 4 weeks as the assessment and removal of household hazardous waste can vary significantly from property to property. Residents can track the progress of Phase 1 and the DTSC and Environmental Health crews by viewing the DTSC map. The link to the map can be found here. Residents can select “Mountain” on the top right corner of the page to view the Mountain Fire map.
Residents can expect to see a sign posted on the property following the completion of Phase 1. This sign does NOT mean the site is clear of toxic ash and debris. Phase 1 is required before Phase 2 of debris removal can start or demolition and building permits can be issued.
Phase 2 of the debris removal program involves more comprehensive clean-up of all hazardous materials on each affected property including structural debris and ash removal, hazard tree removal, erosion control, and soil testing to confirm the site is suitable for rebuilding. The County of Ventura continues to await confirmation of whether Phase 2 will be facilitated by the State of California or the County. Once there is confirmation of which entity will facilitate the debris removal program, the information will be shared widely and posted along with other recovery information on the Ventura County Recovers web site at www.venturacountyrecovers.org.
The County offers the option for property owners with fire debris on their property to register to receive debris removal information and notifications directly from the County’s Resource Management Agency via e-mail as it becomes available by signing up on the venturacountyrecovers.org website under Recovery Notifications.
For debris removal questions, residents are encouraged to contact the Ventura County Environmental Health Division Message Line at (805) 654-2432.
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