Why is a Los Angeles-based foundation funding soil testing of 1,200 homes for toxic substances such as lead and arsenic in the Palisades and Altadena fire zones?
Because federal agencies overseeing fire debris cleanup of 16,000 properties are not doing so.
The lack of testing by governmental agencies has left many homeowners of intact homes and burned-out properties too scared to move back home or rebuild. They fear contaminated soil is present, and ingestion or breathing toxic substances can expose their families to health problems, such as learning disabilities and even cancer.
Karen Walker, one of thousands of concerned residents, is temporarily living with her husband and two children in Sierra Madre. They won’t move back home until they’re sure testing reveals it is safe.
Though her home in Altadena is intact, it is surrounded by burned-out homes from the Jan.7- Jan. 8 Eaton fire that destroyed 9,414 structures and damaged 1,074 others, of which many were older homes covered in lead paint. She’s also concerned about airborne ash from a close-by Army Corps of Engineers site at Altadena Golf Course crushing concrete and metals from debris hauled in from nearby properties.
“We are scared because we want to live in a place that is safe,” Walker said on Thursday, April 17. She is in the process of testing the soil in the yard of her Altadena home. She’s particularly concerned about elevated lead levels.
The primary pathway for lead is hand-to-mouth contact of soils for sensitive populations, including pregnant mothers and children. In young children, lead exposure can cause developmental delays, learning difficulties and lowered IQ, according to Los Angeles County Chief Medical Officer Dr. Nichole Quick.
The issue of testing for toxins has concerned property owners and leaders for weeks as federal agencies move to clean up ash and debris. But the issue was revived after recent findings by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health found lead levels above health-based screening standards in a high percentage of samples taken from parcels downwind of the Eaton fire.
The effects of lead exposure may be permanent and without obvious symptoms until damage has occurred, experts said. For pregnant women, lead can impact the mother and developing baby, increasing the risk of miscarriage, premature birth, low birth weight and developmental issues. For adults, lead exposure can lead to high blood pressure, kidney damage, mood disorders and problems with memory and concentration, Dr. Quick explained.
So Walker and her family wait for any scientific evidence that says it’s safe to go back.
“Soil testing is important because we had this major disaster in an unprecedented area of historic homes in a very condensed space. Just to bulldoze everything away and say everything is safe is ridiculous. We are afraid we’ll get cancer in 10 years,” she said.
Enter the R & S Kayne Foundation, a philanthropic group that has put up $1 million to test soils in the two fire zones, as well as test the air. They are working with scientists from UCLA, Loyola Marymount University and Purdue University.
“The decision not to test here is startling. And another reason why we want to do this,” said Sarah Ali, managing director of the R & S Kayne Foundation. The foundation helped form the Community Action Project Los Angeles, or CAP.LA, with the help of researchers from the three universities.
After talking on KCRW 89.9FM, a National Public Radio station, the foundation held virtual public information sessions. Andrew Welton, professor of civil construction, environmental and ecological engineering at Purdue University heard about it and connected them with Sanjay Mohanty, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at UCLA, and Brianne Gilbert, a political science professor at LMU and managing director of StudyLA.
“The requests have been overwhelming,” Ali said. “We have had over 3,400 people interested in getting their soil tested. And that is after very limited marketing — really word of mouth.”
The soil sampling is free, she said, and work began about the second week of April at the homes of burned out properties and intact properties in the Palisades and Altadena, Ali said.
CAP.LA is also working with the city of Pasadena, testing soil at local parks, Ali said.
Sanjay Mohanty, associate professor, UCLA Samueli Civil and Environmental Engineering and team member of CAP.LA project, takes soil sample at McDonald Park in Pasadena on April 11, 2025. (photo by Chandra Tummala.)CAP.LA got a boost from Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, who along with other local members of Congress wrote a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is in charge of fire debris cleanup, demanding FEMA reverse its policy against soil testing after the wildfires.
“I have asked the EPA and FEMA to do soil testing in Altadena and Pasadena, and I was disappointed when they flat-out said no,” Chu wrote in a statement. She said she continues to pressure both agencies, but in the meantime, found out about CAP.LA and publicized their brand new program.
Chu said she has heard from many worried constituents who are in limbo.
Many say FEMA’s removal of six inches of soil from the footprint of a burned out home was a good step, but the agency did not go far enough. They want testing of soil nine, 10 or more inches below ground so they’ll be sure its safe to rebuild or return to their homes. Many said the FEMA debris removal process did not include scraping soil from garden areas and other portions of yards, which is where children play or dogs romp.
California officials say data shows that contamination from wildfires can go deeper than 6 inches in topsoil.
“I wanted to see what university researchers felt about this. They told me about CAP.LA and that they could be a partial solution,” Chu said.
Despite pressure from Chu and other members of Congress, FEMA and Army Corps officials stuck to their position on its refusal to test soil and would only scrape the burned-out house area of six inches of soil.
The agency has said testing is inefficient and would impede cleanup times.
In late March, FEMA officials noted that over the past seven years, in contrast to past practice, the agency has not funded soil testing on sites impacted by fires.
“In consultation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, FEMA has consistently determined that removing the top 3-6 inches of soil beneath fire debris is sufficient to address fire-related contamination and protect public health,” said Brandi Richard Thompson, a FEMA spokesperson.
The lawmakers cited instances were soil testing was done by federal agencies. For example, after the 2023 fire in Lahaina in Hawaii, FEMA conducted additional soil testing for toxic contaminants.
They also pointed out that during cleanup of the 2018 Camp fire, which pummeled the town of Paradise in Northern California, soil testing was conducted on nearly 13,000 properties. Of these, more than 4,000 properties still had toxic chemicals in the soil, including lead and arsenic.
FEMA said testing results showed that contamination was primarily due to preexisting conditions, not the fire itself. Federal officials have repeatedly noted such pre-existing conditions in refusing to do the testing.
UCLA Professor Mohanty, who is leading the CAP.LA soil sampling team, first uses an X-ray type device to instantly monitor what kinds of toxic chemicals, like lead, are present and if the levels are below or above accepted thresholds.
The EPA marks anything over 200 parts per million as showing potential lead contamination. The California benchmark is 80 ppm.
Next, he’ll do a soil core sample going as deep as 12 inches, Ali explained. That sample is taken to a lab to look for volatile organic compounds, such as lead as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), a group of chemicals in which some may be linked to cancer and affect the eyes, kidneys, and liver.
At the 1,200 properties, Mohanty’s team can take a minimum of five samples at multiple areas on each property. Data will be shared with the property owner and placed on a public “story map” on the CAP.LA website, Ali said.
“The samples are from a mixture of people with burned out homes, standing homes and in the vicinity (of the fires),” Ali said.
Walker said she’s talked with many homeowners who have paid thousands of dollars for a private company to do soil testing.
“There is no cost to the homeowner (for the CAP.LA testing),” said Ali. “We recognize some community members may not be able to afford this kind of testing.”
For homeowners to get more information, they should send an email to: info@cap.la.
A second part of the program allows homeowners to dig out their own soil samples and drop them off at LMU for testing. This has been done on a limited basis, said Ali.
Walker’s husband has collected 12 soil samples from the yard of their Altadena home, which they will take to LMU, she said. “Soil tests need to come back negative for lead,” said Karen Walker.
She said she learned of CAP.LA from social media, but that many others do not know of the program because they don’t have access to the internet. She wants to see a direct mail approach to put soil testing opportunities into mailboxes.
“The elderly population and others who are Black and brown are not aware of testing opportunities,” she said. “To leave people behind because of age and barriers to technology is criminal.”
Chu said she is looking for additional funding to expand the CAP.LA program beyond 1,200 property owners. Ali also said the foundation has talked with Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Lindsey Horvath about expanding their program.
The supervisors allocated $3 million for soil testing on April 15. Ali’s group hopes to be considered for that program.
“We’ve raised our hand and said we are here. We are available to help. We are doing the work. We are prepared,” she said.
L.A. County Department of Public Health said individuals can get their blood tested for lead.
To get tested, call 1-800-LA-4-LEAD to request an appointment through Quest Labs or visit a public health community testing site on the following dates:
-Saturday, April 26, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Arts and Literacy Festival in Santa Monica
-Sunday, April 27, noon to 5 p.m. at Eaton Health Village/Pasadena Seventh-Day Adventist Church
-Saturday, May 17, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Malibu Library
SCNG Staff Writers Ryan Carter, Anissa Rivera and David Wilson contributed to this article.
Related links
Q&A: Health experts urge caution, more testing after elevated lead levels found in Eaton fire soil FEMA again pushes back on renewed push to test soil after Eaton, Palisades wildfires LA County approves $3 million for Eaton fire-area soil testing after lead found in samples Pasadena Public Health issues guidance for schools after lead found in soil samples Local Habitat for Humanity doing ‘heavy lift’ to help Altadena fire victims rebuild
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