ACE Debris Removal Update: Gym and Tahitian on the List

The burned building and property were cleared by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The people that have used Army Corps of Engineers are mostly happy with the professionalism and the speed with which the burned homes (debris) have been removed from their properties.

Circling the News reached out to the Corps on May 13 for an update. Although there are 10,150 eligible parcels from the combined Palisades/Eaton Fires, CTN asked specifically for Palisades numbers because 6,822 buildings were destroyed in that area.

As of May 14, in the Palisades the Corps has accepted 4,107 Right of Entry (ROE) from the County, cleared 2,930 properties and submitted the final sign off for 2,365 parcels. Spokesperson Justin Campfield said, “We have cleared debris from about 71 percent of the parcels we received rights of entry to and have turned about 55 percent of those back to the county.”

Campfield said that they do expect additional ROE’s from the county, but do not know the number. ACE has removed, sorted and recycled when appropriate, approximately 858,000 tons of fire debris, concrete and metal.

Some properties still need to be cleared of debris, either by the Corps or a private contractor.

At the April Palisades Park Advisory Board meeting on L.A. Rec and Park General Manager Jimmy Kim gave an update and said that they are waiting FEMA to make an onsite visit.

Campfield said. “The gym had been submitted to the debris removal process. It is so new in the system that the ROE hasn’t been processed yet. We are very early in the process on this building, but it is in our program and we are working on it.”

Also in the process, “We have received an REO for Tahitian Terrance, but it has not been put on the debris removal schedule, yet,” Campfield said.

At least one commercial building owner in Pacific Palisades, wished the debris from the two grocery stores, Ralphs and Gelson’s, could be removed. CTN asked Campfield if that was possible.

“USACE receives its debris removal mission assignments from FEMA,” he said.

Even as Mayor Karen Bass and L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath congratulate themselves on the “fastest disaster recovery effort in modern California history,” perhaps they could work to do something practical such as bringing back a grocery store to the Palisades village.