Kabateck LLP Managing Partner Shant Karnikian and Partner Anastasia Mazzella were featured in the Simi Valley Acorn this week for their commentary on the alarming discovery that wildfire debris containing hazardous levels of asbestos was dumped into ordinary municipal landfills in Southern California.
In their piece “Regulation, reform needed at SoCal landfill sites,” the attorneys expose how contractors hired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sent debris from the Eaton and Palisades fires to sites like Waste Management’s Simi Valley Landfill, despite these facilities not being authorized to handle hazardous waste.
The attorneys emphasize that asbestos is a well-known carcinogen with no “safe” level of exposure. They detail how workers at Waste Management’s Simi Valley site were operating without proper protective equipment, even after asbestos presence was confirmed, representing a breach of basic occupational safety standards.
Karnikian and Mazzella argue that landfills should have anticipated these risks, as wildfire debris from destroyed homes almost certainly contains asbestos, lead, arsenic and other toxic substances. They call for immediate action including site audits, mandatory asbestos training for landfill staff, hazard pay for exposed workers, and a moratorium on accepting fire debris without certified testing.
The attorneys emphasize that affected communities have immediate legal rights, noting that the negligence allowing contaminated debris into landfills creates grounds for legal action against responsible parties.