A small group of House Democrats from Southern California on Feb. 3 called on the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to create a new task force to monitor the air, soil, and water for dangerous pollution following last month’s catastrophic wildfires in Los Angeles County.
“This isn’t an issue where we can hold our breath and expect it to go away,” said Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Calif.) in a press release.
The Palisades and Eaton fires started Jan. 7 and ravaged swaths of Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and Pasadena, killing at least 28 people and destroying over 12,000 homes and buildings.
“The reality is that Angelenos may be living with potentially dangerous pollutants in our air, water, and ground from these urban wildfires, and they deserve to know what is in the air that they’re breathing,” Friedman said. “They also deserve to be protected from it.”
Friedman was joined by Reps. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), and George Whitesides (D-Calif.) during a Monday press conference in Pasadena.
The lawmakers sent a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin making the formal request.
Residents in the fire zones are “rightly fearful” of the potential effects on the air, soil, and water, according to the lawmakers, adding that the air quality index used in the region does not measure pollutants such as ash particles, asbestos, chlorine, lead, and other heavy metals.
“This lack of full information could increase the risk of long-term negative health effects, especially among vulnerable populations like children, pregnant women, and the elderly, regardless of whether or not people are in areas that have been directly impacted by wildfires,” the letter said.
The group asked the EPA to convene a task force with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, South Coast Air Quality Management District, the county’s Department of Public Health, and other organizations, to monitor all possible hazards and inform residents on protective measures.
“As the two-phase Eaton Fire cleanup takes place, residents in and around devastated areas must have complete confidence that the air they are breathing, water they are drinking, and ground they are walking on is safe,” Chu said in a press release.
The EPA will review the letter and respond through appropriate channels, agency spokesman Jeff Landis told The Epoch Times in an email Monday.
