LOS ANGELES – To improve the health of the San Gabriel River and reduce the risk of wildfires, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District began clearing tons of litter and debris March 1 from a former homeless encampment near Azusa, California. The land along the river is maintained by the LA District for flood-risk management.
After several wildfires in the area last fall, local communities requested assistance in removing several homeless encampments from Corps-managed land near the riverbed. The use of the Corps' project lands for homeless encampments is prohibited by the agency’s regulations and Los Angeles County, and presents a health and safety hazard to homeless individuals, residents, the environment and wildlife. Although the camp was cleared in September, it needed to be addressed again before a cleanup crew could safely access the area. Campers were given advance warning, and no individuals were present during the early morning cleanup.
Representatives with the LA District’s Operations Division and LA District Rangers partnered with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, Azusa Police Department and LA County Animal Care and Control’s Major Case Unit to conduct a final safety inspection, ensuring the encampment was unoccupied – including pets – and to document its remnants. In addition to the trash and human waste, Rangers and Azusa police officers uncovered propane tanks, gasoline cans and other items that are especially hazardous during wildfires.
“Basically, they’ve done a very diligent job of going through the riverbed, making sure there aren’t any remaining individuals illegally trespassing,” said LA District project manager Trevor Snyder, adding that any illegal campers in the cleanup area received a 72-hour notice before work was scheduled to begin.
Assistance to the homeless within the debris field along the San Gabriel River was offered by Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority in the days preceding the cleanup.
The cleanup is being done mostly by hand. A15-man crew from BJD Services, contracted by the LA District, also used a tracked skid steer equipped with a claw to grapple and haul piles of debris accumulated by the crew from pickup points out of the riverbed to roll-off containers.
“No heavy equipment is going in the riverbed, because it’s getting close to bird nesting season, which begins March 15,” Snyder said. “Even though it’s not yet nesting season, we’re picking up the trash by hand.”
Snyder estimates about 100 tons of trash will be removed from the riverbed this week. An adjacent stretch of land along the San Gabriel managed by the LA District was cleaned up last fall.
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