LA County approves $3 million for Eaton Fire resident soil testing

Property owners in the Eaton Fire burn area are to get county support for more in-depth soil testing after elevated levels of lead were discovered downwind of the wildfire.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors allocated from the county's Lead Paint Hazard Mitigation Program settlements to help affected property owners with testing costs.

Board Chair Kathryn Barger introduced Tuesday's motion to make funds available to affected residents - generally those downwind and within a one-mile radius of the burn zone.

"I'm aware some of my constituents want to test their soil but are worried about the cost. This motion is about making sure they have access to resources and support to protect their health and their homes," Barger said.

The county Department of Public Health released test results last week that showed levels of lead above health screening thresholds in the soil at properties downwind from the Eaton Fire.

"The source of lead in the fire is reasonably expected to be from the burning of homes with lead-based paint, which was common prior to 1979," according to the department. "Caltech reported that more than 90% of the houses in Altadena were built before 1975." 

The agency said additional assessments will help in understanding how much of the lead found in the samples came from the 2025 wildfires versus other sources.

Principal scientist Adam Love and his team from Roux Inc. carried out the soil sampling for public health officials and stressed that the findings do not imply that any type of abatement or cleanup is necessary in the area. Instead, the tests will help scientists identify particular areas that would need additional evaluation.  

"The overall percentages of lead in the 30 or 40% range would not be necessarily surprising in an urban setting, but what we see here are levels of exceedences downwind of where the main burn area is," Love said. "We see the percentages of lead in those samples that are 70% up to 80% of the soil samples exceeding the screening levels."