The Tustin City Council approved an agreement with the U.S. Navy during an emergency meeting Friday, Nov. 10, that will give the city $1 million in federal funds to start cleaning up potentially toxic debris still covering homes, businesses and public spaces after the Navy’s vacant blimp hangar caught fire earlier this week.
The agreement doesn’t cover cleanup of the charred north hangar, which Tustin Mayor Austin Lumbard reiterated is still the Navy’s responsibility. But he said the agreement will allow Tustin to “move as quickly as possible” to start helping residents, who are looking to the city for guidance on what to do with ash, chunks of blackened fiber and other materials scattered around their homes.
“We need to get it off of their property so they can move on with their lives,” Lumbard said during the meeting. He added, “To the extent that we can mobilize resources to remove that debris as quickly as possible, that’s gonna be a big relief for our neighborhoods.”
Residents have so far largely been following advice from county and air quality authorities, who’ve told them not to touch debris from the hangar fire following positive tests for asbestos, lead, arsenic and nickle. But even that advice has been confusing.
Instructions the county sent out Thursday first stated that residents should not “disturb” any ash or debris and instead call for help. But in the same advisory, they encouraged residents to wash debris off property.
Asked about that seeming contradiction, Third District Supervisor Don Wagner, chair of the county Board of Supervisors, said the right approach depends on the type of debris.
“If it’s just ash and the normal soot from a fire, it is my understanding that it is safe to hose off.” Hosing the material off is key, he said, since sweeping it up or using a leaf blower would kick some of the debris back up into the air.
As for larger pieces of debris found on properties, Wagner said the initial…
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