Friday, June 19, 2026

Pasadena Unified Board Votes to Continue Eaton Fire Soil Cleanup, Acts to Save Up to 57 Protected Trees

The Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to continue removing fire-contaminated soil at 11 district sites while authorizing staff to evaluate whether as many as 57 protected trees in the work zones can be spared.

The decisions came in a charged meeting during which a community member announced a lawsuit against the district and district parents, residents, and soil scientists voiced opposition to the remediation projects, during public comment.

The vote on the action item authorizes the district to press ahead with soil remediation tied to the Eaton Fire — work the district says state regulators have determined is necessary to protect public health — while adding two amendments that commit the district to weighing tree-retention alternatives site by site, except for protected trees the board said would disrupt the regular operations of schools and/or student life.

The actions came amid an unresolved dispute between the board and some members of the public over whether the toxic cleanup requires cutting down trees at all.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the district said the board voted “to preserve up to 57 protected trees and to continue the planned removal of other trees.” (The adopted motion, however, directs staff to voluntarily evaluate retention alternatives tree by tree rather than guaranteeing the trees’ survival; a district staff member said a tree whose roots are damaged during excavation would still be removed. He put the number of protected trees in the work zones at “55 trees for sure,” with two more to be evaluated.)

Much of the meeting turned on whether removing the trees is required to clean the toxins present on the properties.

Benjamin Stanphill, a Southern California division chief at the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, told the board the agency reviews the district’s cleanup proposals and “we are somewhat agnostic to the trees,” adding that the state could accept full soil removal, a long-term land use covenant, or a years-long phytoremediation or bioremediation approach.

The vote followed sustained opposition from members of the public in the boardroom.

Kristen Ochoa, a district parent, physician, and professor of medicine at UCLA, said she was representing a new group called Friends of PUSD Trees. Ochoa said the group would seek a temporary restraining order under the California Environmental Quality Act, arguing the state did not require felling the trees.

Jessica Richards, a Pasadena urban-forestry commissioner speaking in her individual capacity, said soil can be cleaned without removal: “That task can be accomplished while preserving the trees.”

Speakers, including soil scientists, said they have used bioremediation successfully, which did not require the destruction of trees.

Board members framed the vote as a balance between safety and the community’s attachment to the trees. District 3 board member Michelle Richardson Bailey cited a past incident in which “a branch has fallen on a student.” District 7 board member Yarma Velázquez urged prioritizing sites like San Rafael Elementary, where she said children had been without playground access for about a year, while revisiting other trees next year. District 1 board member Kimberly Kenne called the outcome “a good compromise solution.”

Work sites will remain closed while evaluations continue, the district said, citing contaminants “at harmful levels.”

The closed session before the vote included a conference on anticipated litigation over the soil projects and a performance evaluation of Superintendent Dr. Blanco. The district directed residents to pusd.us/restoringourschools.