County Offers Cleanup Help with Damaged Homes

County officials today told residents who have been displaced from their homes since last week's explosion and fire they would help clean up damaged and destroyed homes in the neighborhood.

Dean Peterson, the director of the county's environmental health services, said the county announced at a meeting held for displaced residents a program that would take care of cleaning up and disposing all of the debris that has been left around each home.

The county would be contracting with CalRecycle to complete the work, which, Peterson, said, could take up to a month. Residents may also opt out of the program, but they would be responsible for taking care of the cleanup around their own home.

Peterson said the county has not found any health concerns in the air quality surrounding the blast site, but officials will be keying in on any hazardous metals or asbestos that might show up in the ash.

The cleanup could start as early as Wednesday, Peterson said, but the county can't start the program until more than half of the 37 residents whose homes were destroyed sign up.