LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – While debris removal and cleanup continues in the Valley fire area, property owners who have not begun the cleanup process or signed up to have it done by state crews have been sent notices of nuisance and orders to abate.
The cleanup in Anderson Springs, Cobb, Hidden Valley Lake and Middletown is necessary to protect Lake County watersheds and to prevent environmental damage from toxic substances left behind in the burned materials, according to county officials.
The county has urged property owners to take advantage of CalRecycle's debris cleanup program, which requires that they sign a right of entry agreement to allow CalRecycle crews to come onto their property.
Alternately, property owners are required to submit an application to have a private contractor clean their properties.
Property owners who have failed to take either step recently were sent the notices of nuisance and orders to abate, according to Ray Ruminski, director of Lake County Environmental Health, the county agency overseeing the cleanup.
The Lake County Community Development Department has sent out about 290 of those notices, Ruminski said.
The property owners who receive the notices will have 30 days from the date of the notices to either submit a right of entry form to participate in the cleanup program or a private contractor application. Ruminski said the CalRecycle program is still readily available for those who want to participate.
The county reported that it will arrange for lots to be cleared to county environmental standards if property owners don't submit the required forms within the 30 days required in the notices. The property will be assessed for the cost to abate the nuisance, and a lien will be placed on that property.
Ruminski said the county will begin that abatement process – utilizing CalRecycle crews to do the debris removal – in the first week of January.
Cal Fire's damage assessment concluded that the Valley fire destroyed 1,955 structures, including 1,281 homes, 27 multi-family structures, 66 commercial properties and 581 other minor structures.
Altogether, Ruminski said between 1,600 and 1,700 properties need to be cleaned up.
Ruminski said more than 1,300 properties are registered for the CalRecycle cleanup program. By Christmas, the goal is to have 800 of the lots cleared. Once debris removal is complete, soil sampling takes place to ensure that toxic substances have been fully removed.
Nearly 50 crews remain in the field working on the cleanup, with additional crews doing community service projects such as erosion control, lot scraping and creek clean out, according to a status summary Ruminski provided to Lake County News.
He said the work taking place to clean up is “phenomenal.”
The amount of removed materials totaled more than 61,000 tons as of Dec. 15, based on the status summary.
Ruminski added that all lots from the Rocky and Jerusalem fires that were registered for the CalRecycle program have been cleared.
Valley fire property owners who believe they've received a notice of nuisance and orders to abate in error are urged to contact Lake County Environmental Health at 707-263-8929, Extension 103.
The right of entry is a two-page form that takes five to 10 minutes to complete. The completed form should be submitted to the Lake County Environmental Health Department in person at 922 Bevins Court, Lakeport; by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; or by fax at 707-263-1681.
The ROE can be obtained by contacting Lake County Environmental Health or online under the debris removal section at www.LakeCountyRecovers.com .
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Nuisance and abatement orders sent out to some Valley fire properties; cleanup program still available
- Elizabeth Larson
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