As a teenager at Brentwood High School, Los Angeles native Randy Balik spent a lot of time in the Pacific Palisades.

When a series of wildfires erupted in Los Angeles County on Jan. 7, initially engulfing the Pacific Palisades and Eaton Canyon areas, it was personal.

“When I was in high school, the Pacific Palisades was my stomping ground, so to speak,” said Balik.  “I still have a lot of friends and family there and some of them lost their homes in the wildfires.”

The fires claimed at least 29 lives and burned over 23,000 acres in the Pacific Palisades and approximately 14,000 in Altadena, which bore the brunt of the Eaton Fire.

As the co-owner and executive vice president of the environmental construction company OFRS Inc. in Signal Hill, Balik was determined to help. While his business normally provides remediation and demolition services to commercial and industrial property owners, he quickly pivoted to the residential sector.

Initially, he confined his efforts to friends in the Pacific Palisades who had lost homes, utilizing those experiences to craft a comprehensive debris removal package.

“It covers everything from securing the permits and debris removal to scraping, sampling and testing the soil,” said Balik. “In partnership with Roux Inc., an environmental consulting firm, we provide environmental consulting oversight, documentation and a final report that demonstrates the property is clean and safe.”

He currently has 20 homes under contract in the Pacific Palisades and has the ability to take on dozens more.

The average price for basic debris and foundation removal ranges from $65,000 to $95,000, which includes all documentation, soil sampling and an environmental closeout report. This is usually paid for by insurance but if costs exceed the homeowner’s coverage, they pay the remainder out of pocket.

“This assumes the property is flat and does not have a pool,” he said. “For homes located on a sloped or hillside location, the costs will be greater. This is true if there is a pool or if the home has an abnormally thick foundation.”

Two phases of cleanup

In the aftermath of the wildfires, a two-phase cleanup process was implemented. The Federal Emergency Management Agency tapped the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to carry out the first part, which entailed surveying, removing and disposing of hazardous household materials such as asbestos, propane tanks, paint and household chemicals.

In instances where properties were deemed unsafe, the EPA deferred to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), which enlisted contractors to perform the work. Phase one was completed at the end of February.

Residents have two options for the second phase – hire a private contractor or opt into the debris removal program managed by the Army Corps by April 15.

Homeowners utilizing the Army Corps are required to sign a right of entry form, which is submitted to L.A. County to confirm that the individual is the legal property owner.

Unlike private contractors, the USACE does not provide an estimate beforehand; however, residents are not responsible for out-of-pocket costs beyond what their insurance covers.

As a result, those who are underinsured or don’t have insurance are highly encouraged to opt into the program, said Army Corps debris expert Cory Koger.

“Data from the EPA indicates there are between 13,000 and 14,000 parcels eligible for debris removal in the Pacific Palisades and Eaton Canyon areas,” said Koger. “We expect we will handle close to 10,000 of the properties.

“Our mission from FEMA is to do private property removal, but we have done some public parcels like schools and libraries and such. We recently were tasked by FEMA to also include owner-occupied multifamily units.”

Koger said the Corps had received 8,121 rights of entry for homes in the Palisades and Eaton Canyon areas as of April 5.

At the time, more than 1,250 people had opted out of the program.

Koger said the Army Corps is using Burlingame-based ECC as its prime contractor to support ash and debris removal, which can only be initiated after the property has been surveyed and deemed to be asbestos-free.

Under the program, contractors will remove recyclable materials such as metal and concrete, ash, debris and six inches of soil.

Soil sampling is not part of the Army Corps’ mission assignment, said Koger.

“Homeowners who want the soil tested should contact their insurance to see if it is covered,” he said. “We use 100% wet methods to keep ash and debris onsite.”

Under the federally funded Private Property Debris Removal Program, six inches of soil below the ash footprint are removed from the parcel.

“Anything beyond the six-inch depth is considered ‘over excavation’ and FEMA has determined those soils are unrelated to the wildfires, time consuming, costly and slow economic recovery,” said Koger.

Cost, other factors being weighed

While cost is likely one of the key factors in the decision to opt in or out of the Army Corps program, some in the community, including attorney Preston Brooks, are raising environmental concerns about the Army Corps program.

Brooks, a partner at Century City-based law firm Cox, Castle & Nicholson, served as a team leader in the Project Recovery study undertaken by Urban Land Institute Los Angeles, the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate and the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. It was released in March.

“One of the biggest issues we identified is the lack of soil testing, which deviates from the standard practice utilized in past fires and within the industry,” said Brooks.

“While the Army Corps is removing six inches of soil, without more information there is no way to know if that is enough for residents to safely return without testing,” Brooks continued. “In addition, we believe that a certificate of completion should be issued to the homeowner to show all the standards have been met after soil testing is done.”

The study also raised concerns over the lack of consistency and standards between Corps and private contractors, said Brooks.

Indeed, Balik and some other private contractors argue the cards are stacked in the Corps’ favor.

“As a private debris removal contractor, the rules and requirements established for companies like mine by L.A. County and other agencies have been constantly changing and continue to change, whereas the Army Corps program does not have to operate within the same restrictive time-consuming and costly guidelines,” said Balik.

“For example, the techniques that I am required to utilize for asbestos abatement are much costlier than those required of contractors who do the work under the Corps program,” Balik added. “As a result, I advise any homeowner with asbestos on the property to opt into the Corps program.”

But the Army Corps said that’s not the case.

“At the end of the day, whether it is one of our contractors or an independent contractor, we all have to adhere to the same requirements outlined by the state of California or U.S. EPA,” said Koger.

A homeowner’s perspective

Environmental attorney Kenneth Ehrlich said the lack of soil testing and “less stringent standards for Corps contractors,” coupled with onerous legal provisions in the Right of Entry Agreement, are the main reasons he enlisted Balik to handle the debris removal process for his family home in the Palisades.

“I read the government agreement and found it totally unreasonable,” said Ehrlich, a senior partner at Elkins Kalt Weintraub Reuben Gartside in Century City. “Among other issues, the Army Corps does not provide estimates or detail the scope of the work to be done. It also controls its own scope of work, which allows the Corps contractors to forego removing certain foundation features. This forces owners to spend more money hiring private contractors to finish the job.”

Instead, he organized a group of environmental consultants and contractors, including OFRS, with the goal of providing more options to his neighbors.

He said many of his friends and neighbors are now using the OFRS/Roux team.

“My own site is a complicated tiered parcel that loses 40 inches of elevation from front to rear,” said Ehrlich. “The OFRS/Roux team completed the debris removal and post-removal sampling in less than a week and did a fantastic job.”

A short-lived attempt

Richard Miller, chief executive of Cerritos-based Resource Environmental Inc., was one of the first private contractors to perform debris removal work in the Palisades.

“I got involved before the regulations were all in place,” said Miller. “I had given proposals to over 150 people who I believed would use me. I completed five of the homes over eight weeks, which should have taken three to five days, while all the bureaucracy and red tape was ongoing.

“It became very complicated from the start,” Miller continued. “The Army Corps had access to all the landfills while we didn’t and the environmental testing and permitting was not the same for private contractors.”

As a result, he said he opted to stop doing debris removal in the fire zones.

“I probably walked away from $15 million in work,” Miller said, “but it was worth it.”

While Balik and Miller cite difficulties navigating the process, not all private contractors have encountered obstacles.

Kyle Bias, regional vice president at ATI Restoration in Anaheim, said he’s completed over 250 jobs in the fire areas since January.

“The work has ranged from internal and external cleaning of residences and commercial buildings to debris removal,” Bias said.

His company is currently handling 12 to 15 debris removal projects in the Pacific Palisades and Altadena areas for residents who have opted out of the Army Corps program.

“Some homeowners have asked us to remove everything down to the dirt,” Bias said. “We’ve also assisted people in recovering precious heirlooms prior to debris removal. There are some things that we do not do, including soil testing, but we refer the homeowner to an outside firm.”

Bias said he believes both private and Army Corps contractors are treated fairly.

“The EPIC-LA process is straightforward, especially for contractors familiar with the Los Angeles market and who regularly file permits electronically with regulatory agencies,” he added. “Although ATI Restoration has faced some challenges, any questions related to EPIC- LA have been answered promptly.”

Miller Environmental Inc. President and Chief Executive Gregg Miller said he’s seen his business increase.

Based in Orange, the company is a subcontractor for Army Corps contractor ECC.

“In Eaton, we are doing asbestos abatement for the Corps,” he said. “We’ve completed 92 properties.”

Gregg Miller also has a contract with ECC in the Palisades, adding he’s ready to assist when requested.

“The Army Corps and ECC have a proven track record of success with these types of large-scale disaster recovery efforts,” he said. “We are pleased to be one of the contributing organizations.”

Looking down the road

While not all private contractors are busy doing debris removal at the moment, some expect business will pick up in the near future.

Kevin Nielsen, chief executive of Westwood-based Nielsen Environmental said he is getting a lot of inquiries and requests for proposals.

“Many involve commercial and multifamily properties,” said Nielsen. “I have a proposal out to a homeowners association that looks promising.

“I think that after the April 15 deadline people will start making decisions,” Nielsen continued. “I think some residents will opt not to rebuild due to the costs.”

Loren Witkin, chief executive of Glendale-based Citadel EHS and a contributing author in the Project Recovery report, has received multiple inquiries.

“We’ve been contracted by several legacy clients to assess site conditions, develop communication strategies and to oversee remediation activities to ensure the health and safety of those on the property or returning to the property,” he said. “The first one was from Palisades Charter High School, which came while the fires were still active.”

He’s also performed assessments for some of Balik’s clients and provided pro bono advice to many residents impacted by the Palisades and Eaton fires.

“I think that we will finish most of our assessment work for our commercial, education and religious organization clients in the next month or two and then may provide oversight for the next year,” Witkin said.