High levels of lead, arsenic and mercury have been found in the soil after post fire soil removal in Los Angeles, California. Previously FEMA and USACE would remove six inches of topsoil, test then remove more if the tests revealed toxic materials. After the January 2025 Los Angeles fires they decided to only remove the top six inches and not test. That's when the LA Times sent out their researchers to test the soil. They found toxic materials in fully destroyed and nearby intact properties. This is why I've been telling people to do their own testing.
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-05-04/the-government-wont-test-soil-on-properties-burned-in-the-la-fires-so-we-did-it-ourselves
"In the wake of the recent L.A. area fires, federal officials have broken with their decades-long tradition of testing soil to determine whether and when it is safe for people to come home.
The federal agencies typically tasked with this work — the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — decided not to conduct comprehensive soil testing, stating that removing 6 inches of topsoil from properties that burned in the fires is enough to meet health-based cleanup goals.
An investigation by The Times uncovers government failures to ensure comprehensive cleanup of fire-related contamination in Altadena and Pacific Palisades left toxic substances buried in the soil of L.A.’s burn zones.
Times reporters conducted soil testing on 40 properties across both the Altadena and Pacific Palisades burn zones. The testing followed strict protocol with samples carefully collected, stored and transported to a state-certified lab in Fresno to be analyzed for 17 toxic metals.
The results confirm that some properties deemed safe are in fact still contaminated: Two of 10 properties remediated by the Army Corps in the Eaton fire burn area are still imbued with heavy metals above California’s health protective standards, the results show.
The Times’ tests also revealed elevated levels of arsenic, lead and mercury in the yards of three homes out of 10 homes that survived the Eaton fire.
The findings underscore the risk lurking just beneath the surface for nearly all residents in California — and for millions of Americans who will rely on future federal support in the wake of worsening climate disasters."
Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate is a certified residential licensed appraiser in Los Angeles, California. Mary Cummins is licensed by the California Bureau of Real Estate appraisers and has over 35 years of experience.
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