Thursday, January 15, 2026

Congresswoman Chu Pushes EPA for Remediation Commitment, as Federal Soil Testing Begins in Altadena

Rep. Judy Chu met this week with EPA. Above, the Congresswoman speaks with investigators. [Office of Judy Chu]

One year after the Eaton Fire tore through this foothill community and destroyed more than 9,400 structures, the federal government will begin testing soil at 100 properties next week for lead contamination.

Rep. Judy Chu met this week with EPA Region 9 Acting Administrator Mike Martucci to discuss the newly approved testing program, funded by FEMA after the agency spent months refusing to pay for post-cleanup soil sampling. Chu said she welcomed the reversal but pushed Martucci on a question that has unsettled thousands of property owners considering whether to rebuild: If the testing finds hazardous lead levels, who pays to clean it up?

The answer, EPA officials told her, was “unlikely” to be the federal government.

“While significant progress has been made in our fire recovery, I was dismayed that FEMA and the EPA still refuse to commit to covering remediation if hazardous lead levels are found,” Chu said in a statement. “If the EPA now finds that this debris removal failed to clear contaminated soil, then the federal government must finish the job they committed to do.”

The Eaton Fire ignited on January 7, 2025, and burned 14,021 acres across Altadena and parts of northern Pasadena, killing at least 19 people and destroying more structures than any California wildfire except the 2018 Camp Fire. The devastation fell squarely within Chu’s congressional district.

In the fire’s aftermath, federal agencies removed debris and up to six inches of topsoil from destroyed properties. But FEMA repeatedly declined to test whether contamination remained, insisting the removal was sufficient. That position held even as Los Angeles County’s own testing in September 2025 found elevated lead levels in soil samples from properties downwind of the burn area—findings that Chu and 27 other California lawmakers cited in a June 2025 letter demanding federal action.

The County’s study, which tested for heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and dioxins, found that lead was the only fire-related contaminant of concern in the Eaton Fire region after debris removal. Separately, no widespread contamination was identified in the Palisades Fire burn area.

Under the new program, EPA will contact 200 Altadena property owners and invite them to opt into voluntary testing. Of those, 100 properties will be selected. At each site, workers will collect 30 soil samples from different locations and combine them into a single bulk sample for laboratory analysis. EPA says the methodology provides 95 percent statistical confidence.
Results are expected in April 2026. Individual property owners will receive their lead test results directly, and an EPA representative will be stationed at the Altadena Disaster Recovery Center at 540 West Woodbury Road to answer questions.

But for property owners hoping the testing will tell them whether their lot is safe to rebuild on, the program has limitations. It tests for lead only, not the 17 toxic metals that California has traditionally tested for after wildfires. And EPA officials acknowledged to Chu that if elevated levels are found, the data would lead only to “referrals to LA County and state agencies that can provide guidance about available resources”—not federal cleanup crews.

Chu said she would continue pressing for full remediation.

“Survivors should not be left with the bill to clear remaining toxins from their properties,” she said. “I will continue pushing for full remediation for contaminated properties and work with federal, state, and local partners until survivors get the resources and protections they deserve.”

The testing initiative follows the largest wildfire cleanup in EPA history. Federal workers surveyed and cleared more than 13,900 properties for debris removal in 28 days after President Trump issued an executive order directing rapid completion.

Chu has led congressional advocacy for Eaton Fire recovery since the flames were still burning. On June 3, 2025, she organized 27 California lawmakers to demand FEMA fund soil testing and establish a remediation program. That letter went unanswered for months before this month’s reversal.

For the thousands of Altadena and Pasadena residents still displaced or weighing their options, the testing represents a step forward—but not the final answer they sought.