Wednesday, July 22, 2026

County Approves $3 Million Program to Clean Lead-Tainted Soil at Standing Altadena Homes

Aerial view of Altadena homes within the Eaton Fire burn footprint, February 2026. (Photo: Brian Feinzimer/LA County)

Aid targets Eaton Fire survivors whose houses were spared but whose yards may still carry lead

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a program to help Altadena homeowners remove lead-contaminated soil from properties that survived the Eaton Fire.

The Altadena Soil Remediation Program will provide up to $3 million for enrollment, administration and cleanup, according to a news release from Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s office and a report from City News Service. The board authorized the Los Angeles County Development Authority to run the program using an existing county contracting mechanism.

For Altadena — an unincorporated community represented at the county level by Barger, whose Fifth District covers the area — the action is aimed at fire survivors who have largely fallen outside earlier cleanup efforts: residents whose homes were left standing. Helen Chavez Garcia, a spokesperson for Barger, told LAist that the new program is intended for still-standing properties and is meant to help residents who have run into insurance obstacles. The federal government previously remediated properties where homes burned to the ground, though the thoroughness of that work has been questioned in independent testing reported by the Los Angeles Times.

The funding combines two sources. The county will contribute $1 million from Barger’s Fifth District allocation within the county’s Climate Equity Account. That will be paired with $2 million from the 2025–26 state budget, money the state directed to the California Community Foundation, which is working with a research collaboration known as CONSORTIUM. County officials said the program will not affect the county’s General Fund because the county’s share comes from Barger’s discretionary Climate Equity Account allocation.

The program will prioritize households with standing homes where pregnant women or children younger than 6 live, citing the greater health risks lead exposure poses to those groups.

In the news release, Barger said families whose homes survived the fire “have faced obstacle after obstacle,” adding that “many Altadena residents have spent months waiting for answers while insurance companies have fallen short of meeting survivors’ legitimate needs.” She described the vote as “an important step forward to help residents safely restore their properties and move on with rebuilding their lives.” Those characterizations are Barger’s own, drawn from her office’s statement.

The Development Authority will partner with CONSORTIUM — the Community-Oriented Network for Scientific Observation, Recovery, and Tracking of Impacts from Urban Megafires — which the news release says has led soil testing, scientific research and community outreach since the fire. Working with the Department of Angels and the Altadena Recovery and Rebuild Corporation, CONSORTIUM members CAP.LA, USC CLEAN and the LA Fire HEALTH Study are to help guide how the program is carried out and how residents are reached. According to LAist, the program’s structure is still being finalized.

The program is expected to launch this fall. Barger’s office can be reached at 213-453-4316.