After the fire.
Thoughts on your compost, safety, and patience in the face of the unimaginable in a post-urban-burning scenario.
At the beginning of this month, Los Angeles caught fire.
Multiple blazes raged out of control in high winds for days, eradicating entire communities in a matter of hours. It was and has been horrific, destruction at a scale that I’m still struggling to come to terms with. Many of my closest friends lost their homes and livelihoods, many more have lost something else—maybe it’s faith? Or some version of hope that has always silently grounded our sense of collective identity.
In the aftermath, the phone calls that I’ve gotten are specific and probably obvious in nature: “What can I do about my compost?” "Do I need to throw it all away?” “Is my earth safe to touch?”
Alas, there are no simple or quick answers to these questions, as urgent as they are. The fires burned through homes and cars, old paint and electronics, and at very high temperatures, meaning what contaminants were unleashed (and in what form) are still unknowns. It will take time to gather the tools, perform the tests, and collect the data that will help us understand the totality of the damage—and thus identify the best strategies for repair and remediation.
However, there are some best practices (and small insights) I may be able to provide to ease the immediate future.
General guidance
First, I want to emphasize that the extent of contamination, at this time, is a huge question mark. There is a lot of information percolating on social media that could leave one with the impression that the entire Los Angeles area is now definitely, maximally, permanently toxic. This is, simply put, not true. There are areas of Los Angeles that are suffering present contamination and others that remain untouched. There are places where masking outdoors is a smart idea, and places where it isn’t necessary at this time. Conditions will change. Wind and rainfall will impact what areas experience post-fire pollution and how much of it. Longterm vigilance and caution will be extremely important, but it would be a mistake to think of Los Angeles as entirely lost to us. We do need to be smart, but we also must be hopeful. One bright spot I’ve been hanging onto: some friends of mine have been testing soil and compost outside of burn zones, with promising results so far.
Second, even with what I’ve just said, your risk threshold is yours to determine, and yours alone. Many people who have called me want to know objective information: “Is the air okay to breathe?” “Is the water okay to drink?” The better question is: “What immediate action can be taken that will help me stop worrying?” For some, just buying bottled water for now is better than spending hours trying to parse conflicting information about water quality from innumerable and generally alarmist social media sources. For others, it means masking outdoors at all times. You don’t have to “know” what the air quality is to justify masking. You can just do it so that you don’t have to think about it one way or the other. Along those lines, when it comes to your compost, if you are simply too freaked out to use your pile—I give you full permission to literally throw it away forever. (However, I will note that I don’t think you necessarily have to do this.)
Compost and urban fire contamination
Compost is an excellent tool for bioremediation. It can be remarkable at locking up heavy metals and removing contaminants. However, just because compost can be used this way, doesn’t mean that your backyard pile is guaranteed its own rehabilitation from post-fire toxins. Compost’s ability to act as a bioremediator is variable and can take months to years in order to be effective. Despite the wonderful super powers of compost, I would encourage composters to be thoughtful after these fires, and even take some initial precautions.
Action steps
Get familiar with personal protective equipment (PPE) usage. While there are still so many unknowns, you may want to wear PPE when and if you choose to interact with your compost. This is to avoid inhaling ash that may have accumulated or getting contaminated material in your eyes or on your skin.
These are some basics I noted after a presentation from the Los Angeles-based Club Gay Gardens, who’s founder, Maggie, works with LA Compost:
N95 or N100 masks are ideal for filtering out the widest range of toxin-carrying particulate matter.
If you opt for a heavier-duty face respirator and goggles, make sure that the two pieces of equipment have alignment along the bridge of your nose. (Maggie once referenced an incident where her goggles wouldn’t rest snug on her face because the face respirator interfered. Good to double-check details like this before you’re in an active exposure situation.)
Use nitrile gloves for best chemical resistance. Maggie recommends layering them under sturdier working gloves in order to prevent puncture.
If you have long hair, put it up. Cover it with handkerchief.
Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants.
Have a plastic bag on hand to place clothes and other items before entering your home again.
Shower off quickly.
Test your compost. This is always the best way to build a clear and actionable picture of what is going on in your heap. (Candidly, it’s probably a best practice for city dwellers, regardless of recent and catastrophic fire events.)
After the fires, you would want to test for heavy metals, including lead, in addition to asbestos and VOCs. You will also want to test for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are produced by the incomplete combustion of organic matter, and dioxins, which are produced by the incomplete combustion of industrial and household waste. This is not a complete list of every single possible contaminant, but they are the most common and most potentially toxic.
It will take gathering a few compost samples and requesting a few different tests in order to accomplish the full range outlined above. The total cost can run to about $500, but may be worth it to put your mind at ease if you’re an active and involved composter who wants to confidently make future use of your heap.
My friend Lynn Fang, the soil biologist behind SoilWise, has always recommended the locally-based Wallace Labs for these types of tests. I trust her advice! Metabolic Studio has also offered free soil testing before, and may be a resource for those who can’t afford the (admittedly somewhat steep) price tag here.
Note: wear PPE when gathering soil samples. This would be particularly recommended if you had ash-fall in your yard and on your pile.
Assess your own situation. Did you have ash fall directly on your compost pile? Your best bet may be to retire your compost and start a new one. This is the easiest and safest step to take. To reduce the airborne potential of your contaminated pile, you can water ash slowly into the pile with a low pressure stream of water or turn it into the center of the pile with a shovel. (Gear up in PPE to do this.) Then leave it alone. You also may want to perform future soil tests, as outlined above, to monitor any potential contamination. If you have no visible ash fall on your compost, I would still recommend getting a suite of tests done to check for contamination before proceeding to use the pile. There’s just no harm in checking. No matter what your situation, though, you may opt to simply retire your current compost pile and start a new one. This is also a completely reasonable action.
Resources
This post from Lynn is very hard to beat for clear, actionable insight on remediation.
“Is the ash and residue from the recent fires a danger to the fruits and vegetables in your garden?” from Good Food on KCRW.
If your home has been infiltrated by toxic ash. This Google Doc was put together by a hard-working group of soil-and-plant affiliated friends. It’s full of great information for cleaning up ash.
I’ll end on this note:
There are limits to what we can do in this moment. Many actions, specifically when it comes to bioremediation and soil recovery, will be longterm efforts. The land has its own mechanisms of repair that require our time, patience, and non-interference. That’s okay. I don’t know about you, but my own coping mechanisms (community action, participation, mutual aid) currently feel worn from overuse across the last five or six years. I cannot overstate the value of taking rest wherever you may find a moment. Forgive yourself for what is beyond your control.
In the meantime, I am doing my best to pitch in alongside several members of my community in order to support the creation of pathways for people to easily access soil testing resources, support, and guidance. There are many, many good people working to prop up the resources and information that the community needs.
I will share more as I have it. I love you so much, hang in there.
Love,
Cass